Water for Black Canyon?
How much water is the Black Canyon entitled to receive and at what times of the year? Here's an article from the Montose Daily Press about the litigation that will settle those questions and many more.
From the article, "The era of compromises ended in 2001. As the Clinton presidency came to a close, the Department of the Interior directed the Department of Justice to file a quantified federal reserve water right claim in the Black Canyon. On Jan. 18, 2001, Department of Justice attorney David Gehlert filed the claim in Montrose. The filing is to 'ensure the continued nutrition, growth, conservation, and reproduction of those species of fish which inhabited such waters ... (and) to attain and preserve the recreational scenic, and aesthetic conditions existing on the applicable reservation dates ...,' according to court documents. Trying to mimic the natural cycles of the river, the filing wants water in the canyon to increase in the spring and decrease in the fall. This is how the river operated before Blue Mesa and other dams were constructed on the Gunnison River. To achieve the goal, the filing contains complex formulas, which are used to calculate the amount of water released from reservoir into the river and down the canyon. On heavy snow years, the flows could be as high as 9,000 and 10,000 cubic feet per second...
"But many feel the 2001 filing was politically motivated and potentially harmful to water users in the basin. Ranchers in the Upper Gunnison Basin have reason to be concerned about a reserve water right in the Black Canyon. The park was created in 1933, giving the reserve water right that priority date. A majority of the water rights on ranches in the Upper Gunnison Basin have a 1941 priority date, which is junior to the federal reserve water right. 'It would impact the entire economy of the basin,' [John McClow, an attorney with the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District] said. McClow said most ranchers in the basin have two priority dates. A water judge first adjudicated the basin in 1906, but the quantity of water was calculated based on Front Range soils. Soils in the Upper Gunnison are gravely and drain faster than on the Front Range. To compensate for the difference, Gunnison ranchers were given a second decree that was three times the original decree in 1941. Also, McClow said the 2001 filing seeks to have the river raised slowly over 85 days. This would coincide with the time of year when ranchers irrigate pastureland. McClow said since 65 percent of the water rights in the basin are junior to the 1933 reserve water, ranchers could not create enough good pastureland."
Take time to read the whole article.
"colorado water"
8:54:24 AM 
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