Summary of the Gunnison Water Situation

Summary

In 1986 the City of Aurora and the Natural Energy Resources Company (NECO) filcd claims for the right to divert massive amounts of water from Gunnison County to the Front Range. The Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District also filed for rights to the same water for in-basin use. The High Country Citizens’ Alliance (HCCA) believes that loss of this water would harm water users — particularly environ- mental, agricultural, and recreational interests — within Gunnison County, elsewhere on the Western Slope, and all the way to Califor- ° nia. In 1986, HCCA opposed both Aurora and NECO in Water Court and was joined by more than 40 parties. The other parties included the United States, the State of Colorado, the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, the National Wildlife Federation, Western Colorado Congress, Trout Unlimited, homeowner organizations representing people living along the streams and rivers that would be diverted, ranchers, and a number of Western Slope municipalitics. Since 1986, the water cases have slowly _ moved through the water court system. THE PROJECTS and PROPONENTS Collegiate Range Aurora Project This is Aurora’s proposal (nicknamed CRAP). It would divert 73,000 acre-feet annually from the Taylor River basin. ( An acre-foot of water will cover an acre of land to the depth of one foot, and is cnough to lavishly support an urban family of four for a year.) The proposed Pieplant Reservoir upstream from the Taylor Reservoir would store water for a short time before it was pumped through a tunnel beneath the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area and the Continental Divide. The water would then be stored on the Eastern Slope until “needed”. Because this proposal would take water away from farmers in the Uncompahgre Valley near Montrose, another reservoir named the Almont Reservoir would also be build. It would

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