Bureau discusses water management at roundtable

James Shea

Daily Press Writer

MONTROSE — A Bureau of Reclamation speaker raised the ire of some representatives at the Gunnison Roundtable last week when he suggested the Endangered Species Act could trump contracts on the river.

Since late last year, the Gunnison Roundtable has met and discussed major areas of concern on the river. The roundtables were created by the state legislature to create dialogue within and between watershed basins.

At the last meeting, the Bureau of Reclamation discussed the history of dam projects in the basin and the current environmental impact statement being done on the river. The problem: The dams have changed the river and threatened the Colorado pike minnow and the razorback sucker.

The bureau is trying to find a way to manage the river and fulfill its traditional obligations, like flood control, providing water for hydropower and water to irrigators, and at the same time improve the number of endangered fish.

During the discussion, the bureau’s Steve McCall was asked what impacts the changes to the river would be to current contracts, like the Uncompahgre Valley Water User’s right to store water in Taylor Park Reservoir. McCall suggested that the contract did not have as much weight as the Endangered Species Act and the bureau could void them.

Roundtable Representative Ken Spann said he was concerned that the bureau was over-stepping its authority and said the debate centered on state rights versus federal rights.

Bureau Division Manager Ed Warner said he wants to work with the water users on the river. He said the Endangered Species Act does give the federal agency a lot of power but he wants to solve the endangered fish problem in a constructive manner.

“We have no intention of breaking contracts,” Warner said.

McCall said the bureau and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are already doing a lot to help the fish. The agencies have a set of critical habitat areas and created ladders for the fish to get around the dams. He said changing the flow patterns is one more tool the bureau can use.

The agency is conducting hydrological models to try and better understand the flows level in the river as part of the EIS process, McCall said.

Warner said one concern the agency has about increased flows in the Gunnison is the impact on the Gunnison Tunnel diversion point, as it would take more abuse from increased flows.

Warner said the EIS process will take between three to six years. He said the Black Canyon of the Gunnison water rights case will have a major impact on how the river is managed and the case is not close to being settled.

Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association Manager Marc Catlin wanted to know if the EIS and the river flows in the Black Canyon could be done together and take “two bites out of the apple.”

Warner said that would be the best possible scenario but there were too many unanswered questions.

“We have talked about that,” Warner said

He suggested that the roundtable develop its own alternative solution to the EIS and submit it to the bureau. The agency looks favorably at solutions that are developed within the community, Warner said.

Colorado Department of Natural Resource Executive Director Russell George attended the meeting but did not add anything to the discussion.

Contact James Shea via email at Jamess@montrosepress.com