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Show Sales of M & I Water from Navajo Reservoir The Secretary has determined there is municipal and industrial water available in the San Juan River Basin for long-term contracting to the extent of annual stream depletions of 100,000 acre-feet. Contracts for long-term industrial water service from Navajo Reservoir have been negotiated with five organizations. It is estimated the uses under the five proposed long-term contracts will deplete the stream some 92,500 acre-feet annually. The proposed contracts are being reviewed by the Department of the Interior prior to their being submitted to the Congress for approval. Congressional approval of such long-term water use contracts was established by Public Law 87-483 (Act of June 13, 1962). Five short-term, five-year contracts were signed in 1962 for a total of 1,680 acre-feet of water annually. Three of the short-term contracts have been renewed during 1967 for another five-year period. Under these renewed contracts 850 acre-feet of water are being provided to consumers. 4. Curecanti Storage Unit The Curecanti Storage Unit involves construction of three major dams and powerplants along 40 miles of canyon cut by the Gunnison River downstream from Gunnison, Colorado, and upstream from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument. The Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, and Crystal Dams will capture and control the flows of the Gunnison River, which drain from the western slope of the high Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains into the Colorado River. They will provide storage capacity for controlling the Gunnison River and for the production of hydroelectric power, as well as irrigation, flood control, and extensive recreational benefits. Flows of the Gunnison River are now partially controlled by the 940,800-acre-foot Blue Mesa Reservoir, the largest and uppermost of the reservoirs. Water released from the Blue Mesa Reservoir through a 60,000-kilowatt-capacity powerplant at the dam will receive short-term regulation at the Morrow Point Reservoir immediately downstream. The reservoir behind Morrow Point Dam will have a total capacity of 117,190 acre-feet of water and an active capacity for power production of more than 42,000 acre-feet. The powerplant capacity at Morrow Point will be 120,000 kilowatts since the downstream Crystal Reservoir can regulate flows released at Morrow Point. In addition, Crystal powerplant will have a generating capacity of 28,000 kilowatts. 99 |
