OCR Text |
Show Construction Activities Due to extreme cold weather, work was discontinued on the placing of fill material in the dam on December 2, 1960. At that time there were 17,125,000 cubic yards of earth in place. Work resumed on March 13, 1961 and by the end of the water year the prime contract was 88 per cent complete with 22,000,000 cubic yards placed in the dam out of a total of 26,300,000 cubic yards. Reservoir clearing and railroad relocation continued during the year. 4. Curecanti Storage Unit The Curecanti Storage Unit will be located on the Gunnison River in Western Colorado, upstream from the Black Canyon National Monument and downstream from the town of Gunnison. In order to prevent damage to property near the the town, the authorizing legislation (P. L. 485) provides that the upstream dam at Blue Mesa shall be constructed to a height to store not less than 940,000 acre-feet of water, or to create a reservoir of such greater capacity as can be obtained by a high water line located at 7,520 feet above mean sea level. This development will consist of either two or three dams, reservoirs, and appurtenant power generation facilities. The Bureau of Reclamation has completed detailed studies for the two potential upstream dams at Blue Mesa and Morrow Point Dam sites. Analysis of these developments has been made without dependence upon the third dam and reservoir at the downstream Crystal site, which is currently being studied. In addition to power generation, the Curecanti Unit will regulate the flow of the Gunnison River, thus providing benefits to flood control and irrigation. The reservoir will provide extensive recreational benefits. Flows of the Gunnison River will be largely controlled by the 915,000 acre-foot Blue Mesa Reservoir, the larger and uppermost of the reservoirs. Water released from the Blue Mesa Reservoir through a power plant at the dam will receive short-term regulation at the Morrow Point Reservoir immediately downstream. The reservoir behind Morrow Point Dam will have a capacity of 117,000 acre-feet, of which only 15,000 acre-feet will be active storage. Blue Mesa Power Plant will have an installed generating capacity of 60,000 kilowatts and the plant at Morrow Point Dam will have a generating capacity of 40,000 kilowatts. 52 |