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1.3. Water Resources Development <br />The Gunnison River basin has seen substantial water resources developments in the form of <br />private irrigation systems, municipal and industrial diversions, and federal projects. Table 1.1 <br />summarizes key development and agreements within the basin over time. <br />Table 1.1-Key Water Resources Developments <br />Date Description <br />1908 Gunnison Tunnel and Diversion Dam <br />1937 Taylor Park Reservoir <br />1962 Paonia and Crawford Reservoirs <br />1966 Blue Mesa Reservoir <br />1968 Morrow Point Reservoir <br />1971 Silve ~ack Reservoir <br />Date Description <br />1973 Vader Right Adjudicated <br />1975 Taylor Park Exchange Agreement <br />1976 C stal Reservoir <br />1986 Ta for Park Refill <br />1987 Rid wa Reservoir <br /> <br />1.4. Water Rights Administration and Operations <br />Historical water rights administration in the Gunnison River basin can be divided into three <br />distinct time periods. The first time period was from 1902 through 1937 when the Gunnison <br />Tunnel dominated administration. Prior to the construction of Taylor Park Reservoir, water <br />rights were administrated on the basis of direct flow priorities. The senior direct flow rights <br />of the Uncompahgre Valley Water User's Association (UVWUA) on the Uncompahgre and <br />Gunnison Rivers regularly called out junior diverters in both basins in the summer months. <br />Late season irrigation shortages in the Uncompahgre River basin were still relatively <br />common even for those with senior water rights. <br />The second significant time period was from 1937 through 1966 when the Taylor Park <br />Reservoir dominated administration. Prior to the Aspinall Unit, yet with the construction of <br />Taylor Park Reservoir, junior diverters were still subjected to senior river calls by UVWUA. <br />However, UVWUA typically had late season water that effectively eliminated the late <br />summer shortages in the Uncompahgre River basin, except in the extreme dry year 2002. <br />The final significant time period is from 1966 to present time, whereby the Aspinall Unit was <br />constructed and currently dominates flows in the Gunnison River and water rights <br />administration in the basin. The Aspinall Unit gave the UVWUA the ability to draw its <br />Taylor Park storage water from Blue Mesa Reservoir. This resulted in three maj or impacts <br />on water rights administration. First, it eliminated the need to "shepard" Taylor Park releases <br />past intervening upper basin headgates to the Gunnison Tunnel. Second, subordination of the <br />Aspinall water rights to 60,000 acre-feet of upstream junior depletions (a condition of the <br />transfer of the project's water rights from the Colorado River Water Conservation District to <br />the United States) meant that the Aspinall Unit could not call out water users above Blue <br />Mesa. Lastly, Aspinall Unit releases for power generation created substantial amounts of <br />Gunnison River Basin Information 1-4 <br />