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The Gunnison River Basin

The Gunnison River Basin. An Overview Presentation to Statewide Roundtable Summit March 3, 2011. Gunnison River Basin. Gunnison River Basin Significant Water Rights. Gunnison River Basin. Diverse communities making beneficial use of all available water Agriculture Municipal and Domestic

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The Gunnison River Basin

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  1. TheGunnison River Basin An Overview Presentation to Statewide Roundtable Summit March 3, 2011

  2. Gunnison River Basin Source: Bureau of Reclamation

  3. Gunnison River BasinSignificant Water Rights

  4. Gunnison River Basin Diverse communities making beneficial use of all available water Agriculture Municipal and Domestic Recreation and Tourism Coal Mining Hydropower Generation

  5. Gunnison River BasinUpper Basin Agriculture • Livestock and hay production • 66,486 irrigated acres • 578,380 acre-feet average annual diversions • 72,481 acre-feet annual consumptive use • 97% of current water diversions • $46.2 million annually Diverse communities making beneficial use of all available water

  6. Gunnison River BasinLower Basin Agriculture Uncompahgre Project Taylor Park Reservoir, Gunnison Tunnel, 7 diversion dams, 128 miles of main canals, 438 miles of laterals, 216 miles of drains. Supplies 76,300 acres of irrigated lands. Principal crops are alfalfa, wheat, corn, oats, beans, barley, onions and fruit.

  7. Gunnison River BasinLower Basin Agriculture North Fork Region 281,889 acres dedicated to agriculture 346,000 apple trees, 22,000 pear trees, 107,000 peach trees, 97,000 grape vines Other principal crops are hay, corn, dry beans, squash, and vegetables Total crop value (2002) $16,551,000 Livestock includes cattle, buffalo, elk, llamas, exotic birds

  8. Gunnison River BasinMunicipal and Domestic Uses Municipal Providers Gunnison, Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte Water & Sanitation District, Crested Butte South W&SD, Skyland Lake City Project 7 Water Authority Orchard City, Hotchkiss, Paonia 12,000 Domestic wells Diverse communities making beneficial use of all available water

  9. Gunnison River BasinRecreation Flat water Recreation Curecanti National Recreation Area One million visitor days per year $35.51 in direct spending, supported: $40.86 million in sales $14.89 million in personal income 888 jobs $23.44 million in value added Taylor Park Reservoir Lake San Cristobal Ridgway Reservoir Crawford State Park Grand Mesa Paonia

  10. Gunnison River BasinRecreation Stream Fishing Kayaking Canoeing Rafting Snow Making

  11. Gunnison River BasinCoal Mining Total Production 16,140,389 tons Total Sales Value $403,559,867 • Property taxes • $4,361,319 • Employee pay and Benefits • $93,805,041 • Supplies and Services • $88,338,000 • Direct water use in production • 1,200 acre-feet per year

  12. Gunnison River BasinHydropower Aspinall Unit Power Plants Blue Mesa Outlet capacity 6,100 c.f.s. 60 Megawatts (load following) Morrow Point Outlet capacity 5,000 c.f.s. 156 Megawatts (load following) Crystal Outlet capacity 4,150 c.f.s. 29 Megawatts (base unit)

  13. Federal Reserved Water RightBlack Canyon of the Gunnison National Park The federal reserved water right doctrine March 2, 1933 National Park Service photo by Lisa Lynch

  14. Decreed Settlement to Quantify Black Canyon Water Right Base flow: Year-round at 300 c.f.s. Peak flow: one-day peak 1,300 – 14,000 c.f.s. - determined annually by a formula based on forecasted unregulated April through July inflow to Blue Mesa Reservoir Shoulder flows 85 day period

  15. Black Canyon Water Right(average year)

  16. Gunnison River BasinCurrent Challenges Aspinall Unit Operations – Preliminary Final EIS Selenium

  17. Reoperation of the Aspinall Unit Reservoirs Endangered Species Act Endangered fish and habitat – Gunnison and Colorado Rivers Environmental Impact Statement

  18. Fish and Wildlife Service Flow Recommendations to Benefit Endangered Fish

  19. Fish and Wildlife Service Flow Recommendations to Benefit Endangered Fish

  20. Fish and Wildlife Service Flow Recommendations to Benefit Endangered Fish

  21. Selenium

  22. Gunnison River BasinLong-Term Challenges Growth Colorado River Compact Compliance Climate Disturbance

  23. Gunnison River BasinGrowth Population increase to 2050 projected to be 96-129% - to >200,000 Projected increase in gross water demand by 2030 is 14,900 acre-feet (underestimates municipal requirements in North Fork Region) Virtually the entire Gunnison Basin is already over-appropriated (due to historic shortages at Redlands Power Canal near Grand Junction)

  24. Gunnison River BasinColorado River Compact Compliance Colorado River Basin Upper Basin Wyoming Utah Colorado New Mexico Lower Basin Nevada Arizona California

  25. Gunnison River BasinColorado River Compact Compliance Navajo Reservoir Flaming Gorge Reservoir Blue Mesa Reservoir 8.23 million acre-feet Inflows to Lake Powell Percentage of 30-year average • 2000 – 62% • 2001 – 59% • 2002 – 25% • 2003 – 51% • 2004- 49% • 2005 – 105% • 2006 – 71% • 2007 – 68% Lowest 8-year average in 100 years Lake Powell

  26. Blue Mesa Reservoir Impact of a dry year 2007 2002

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