Whither the Gunnison River?

George Sibley’s “Water Wranglers” published by the Colorado River District provides great context for some of the issues looming today. Prior to 1950, a popular idea in the Upper Gunnison River Basin was to capture water in the Union Park area (near today’s Taylor Park Reservoir) and divert it across the Continental Divide into the Arkansas River. This had a unifying effect on the Gunnison River towns. Gunnison, Montrose, Delta, and Grand Junction locked arms in opposition to “our water” being shipped to the Front Range.

In the 1950s, the Bureau of Reclamation got more serious about constructing the Aspinall Project and Blue Mesa Reservoir. Building it on the western edge of Gunnison would keep the water in the Gunnison River Basin flowing toward the Colorado River. Montrose, Delta, and Grand Junction had no problem with that plan. Gunnison now stood alone in opposition to the reservoir project. They feared that low reservoir levels would turn mud flats into dust storms and they worried about the flooding of agricultural land and fishing lodges. Gunnison’s protests resulted in a smaller reservoir than originally anticipated, but the reservoir project became a reality nonetheless.

With over 50 years of history behind us, Gunnison has come to accept Blue Mesa and its neighboring reservoirs. Recreation at Curecanti National Recreation Area now generates $40 million dollars of annual revenue that has become an important aspect of the local economy. Gunnison County would still like some compensation for river access that was lost due to reservoir construction, but, as in most situations, time has healed the wounds associated with the original reservoir project.

Meanwhile, Redlands Water here in Grand Junction holds a mix of water rights that include the senior right on the Gunnison River. With climate change and increasing aridification in the region, let’s suppose that the flow of the Gunnison River got low enough that only the demands of Redlands Water could be met. Suddenly the water is not there to grow Olathe sweet corn and to irrigate hay meadows in Gunnison County. In this instance, the harmony among the towns on the Gunnison River would evaporate as quickly as the water. This is not a happy prospect.

Looking downstream, maintaining enough water in Lake Powell to generate power at Glen Canyon Dam is a crucial need. Currently Lake Powell is only about 100 feet higher than the 3,490 elevation required to run the turbines at Glen Canyon Dam. That is a small cushion and it’s likely to get smaller with climate change and increasing population in the Colorado River Basin.

Glen Canyon Dam produces enough power to supply the needs of 400,000 homes. The three reservoirs in the Aspinall Unit at Curecanti National Recreation Area produce enough power for 54,000 homes. As Lake Powell creeps closer to the 3,490 elevation, producing power at Glen Canyon Dam will no doubt become more important than producing power at the smaller Aspinall Unit. It’s hard to anticipate what the outcome might look like, but a dramatic reduction of water levels in Blue Mesa and its two neighboring reservoirs in order to achieve a higher water level at Lake Powell is not difficult to imagine in an extreme drought situation.

Those of us living in this arid environment on the Western Slope are fortunate to have enough water to provide for crop and orchard irrigation, green lawns, and great fishing, along with boating, rafting, and kayaking. Funding and hard work will be required to retain these fabulous water resources. I certainly voted for ballot measure 7A calling for more funding for the Colorado River District and I would encourage all readers to do the same. If we are lucky, the two scenarios I have outlined may not come to fruition in our lifetimes. In the meantime, let’s provide the Colorado River District with the funding they need to effectively address the increasingly complex water issues facing the Western Slope and the Western United States in general.

Bruce Noble recently retired after a 33-year career with the National Park Service. He was most recently the superintendent for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area near Gunnison. He resides in Grand Junction.