Agencies looking to change management of Gunnison River

James Shea

Daily Press Writer

GRAND JUNCTION — Endangered fish in the Gunnison River could have better habitat if operational changes to the Aspinall Unit are approved.

The U. S. Bureau of Reclamation is conducting an Environmental Impact Statement that proposes modifying downstream flows in the Gunnison to improve fish habitat and reduce mortality rates. On Monday, the bureau held a meeting with state and federal agencies and presented initial alternatives to Aspinall Unit operations.

“What alternatives do we put forward and how comfortable do we all feel?” Bureau of Reclamation Division Manager Ed Warner asked.

Before the EIS can be developed, the bureau and the other agencies are preparing hydrological models on stream flow levels in the Gunnison. Water Resources Group Chief Dan Crabtree said the hydrological group is considering several methods to get an accurate model of the stream flow levels.

“I think we made some good progress,” Crabtree said.

One of the models would use tree ring data from the past 500 years. The bureau would correlate the tree ring data to the stream flows and get a long-term picture of the river.

Crabtree said an accurate flow model is important for the EIS because all conclusions were based on the data.

“This kind of runs in the background. ... This is the data that would do the analysis,” Crabtree said.

High Country Citizens’ Alliance representative Steven Glazer said any modeling should include global climate change forecasts. He said historical data has no relevance if the future outcomes are not included.

Warner said climate change data could benefit the process.

“The more data you have, as long as it’s good, is positive,” Glazer said.

Western Area Power Authority representative Clayton Palmer said he opposed any climate change or tree ring data being used in the modeling. He said the data would not create accurate information for the EIS.

Colorado River Water Conservation District Director Eric Kuhn said the alternatives for the EIS should include provisions for drought years. He said the management of the river changes when the river is stressed from drought, like in 2001 and 2002.

Warner agreed and said a definition of a drought and management during lean years should be part of the EIS document.

Jane Blair, with the Bureau of Reclamation, described the EIS process as a layered cake, where different management plans are built on top of one another. She said a good document seeks to improve fish and wildlife habitat but not injure other users.

“You are going to have to determine how much of an elephant you are going to bite off — what is a reasonable amount,” she said.

She said the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Utah and Navajo Reservoir in New Mexico recently went through management changes to protect endangered fish. She said those could be guiding documents for the Aspinall EIS.

The cooperative group will meet in April to continue drafting the EIS.