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Vol. 106, No. 122 40 pages $1 newsstand FX1 L GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO ■ MARCH 21, 1999 Future of the flow Park service plan for Black Canyon worries some By AARON PORTER The Daily Sentinel DELTA —The Black Canyon of the Gunnison River is among the nlosr imposing chasms on the planet. Sheer rock walls, devoid of life, plunge settle 2,700 feet to the nar- I ow canyon floor, where the Gun raison RI vei barters ancient bed- rock fu its interminablejourney to the sea. Rumbling water pass es walls streaked with pink cys- talline Nottis acrd planges I>� Karen jagged pinnacles of rugged granite. The shadowed depths of the Black Canyon harbor small pock- ets of life where trees and vegeta- tion Strobel sunward. rooted in sandbars inadvertently formed he mankind when mare than 30 Fears; I go. t IV federal govern - n1Prp h'r III three eta nlc to harness the ricers natural now ". Now. the National Park Ser- vice. concerned alxot the river's heafth. wants to partially reverse course° and increase relaases front the clams to restore some of the Gttnnison's natural power — a prospect that worries many downriver interests who remern bee the damage G urns icon River floods have caused. IN Since the dams known col - lectively as the Wayne F. Aspi hall Unit — became operational in 1965- rindsumnler floods that once tenured the canyon no long- er oxygenate streantbed gravel. which is essential to aquatic life. The low water created sandbars and allowed vegetation to take root, ithimatch changing the fiev of the chasm. According to a recent report by Jonathan Friedman of the U.S. ( "- ological Surve %, historic photos show a inarkerliv diflvi-ent canyon than maw exist, Box el- der trees have bran crowiva, In the canyim sill - -,- Janis were ronstructed.jninine the liatiae s111,10's aspen and Dul lgRet fir fires that grew- in limited nunt- bers ill the Ixisl. Increasingly concerned about changeswrou_htb,. iheeon trolled emtiromneut. the park sell ice -- which has managed the Black Canyon of the Gunni son National Monwnem since See CANYON, page 5A )I- Plans to re- create , Delta Rpt ° ^hls6. �4:,,w �. ��_ `- N. Blerl Conlon natural flow ion `non ?v n/rh.• -- Gtwnixm e. Black Canyon :y ' . j being developed Mantras\ _ 717 Dams built in the mid 1960s have m n, restricted midsummer flows through the Black Canyon. Previous floods had helped oxygenate streambed gravel which is essential to aquatic Iile.The low water created sandbars, allowing vegetation to take root. intimately changing the canyon's look. It%Uat aibm _ Blue Mesa Lake Sonte fear NO water releases would return flooding Blur Mesa to riverside communities miles Dam downstream. Others believe manipulations of water storage ru Blue Mesa could affect the fishery in the reservoir. Irrigators are worried that the Man could damage downstream "divetsimn structures." ROBERT GARCIA /The Daily Sentinel Permit Number %� _ I 7 �� ©� Class: OPemmt Se bon Exhibtt ! Class: ❑ Revision ----------- ._._._._.___._. ---------- Type/Seq : ' Class: ❑ Re rt O Hydro enera Doc Type �._ -_._. DApplioatio (Coal my ❑ Bond 0 E.fom ,.t p Ins pet ^on "J Receive DEAN HUMPHREY/The Dally Sentinel Field Office era's 8 Geology IIIIII VIII VIII VIII VIII VIII III ae9066 6t CHRISTOPHER TOMLINSON /The Daily Senurol THE BLUE MESA DAM, above, is part of the Wayne F. Aspinall Unit, which became operational in 1965. The National Park Service, concerned about the Gunnison River's health, wants to increase releases from the dams in the unit to restore some of the Gunnison's natural power. "The darns Have created good fishing, controlled a lot of the erosion oil the banks and they have eliminated Flooding," says Delta Farmer Jay Graff, left. "(The proposal) is plumb ridiculous."