Western Colorado Area Office

Project Notices

Aspinall Unit
Crystal Reservoir Releases - Revised
April 29, 2013

The Bureau of Reclamation will be increasing the release from Crystal Reservoir by 100 cubic feet per second (cfs) from 1,200 cfs to 1,300 cfs on Monday, April 29th at 10:00 a.m. The Gunnison Tunnel will be increasing diversions by 100 cfs on Tuesday morning in order to keep up with irrigation demands. Releases at Crystal Dam are being increased to maintain the current flow in the Gunnison River downstream of the Gunnison Tunnel.

As of today the Gunnison Tunnel is diverting just over 950 cfs and flows in the Gunnison River through the Black Canyon are around 300 cfs. After the change on Monday, the Gunnison Tunnel will be diverting around 1050 cfs and flows in the Black Canyon will still be around 300 cfs. Current flow information is obtained from provisional data that may undergo revision subsequent to review.

The final release rate of 1,300 cfs at Crystal Reservoir will be maintained until further notice.

Pursuant to the Aspinall Unit Operations Record of Decision (ROD), the flow target in the lower Gunnison River, as measured at the Whitewater gage, is 890 cfs for April and May. Flows are currently above this target.

Forecasted unregulated inflow to Blue Mesa Reservoir is 340,000 af between April and July. This is 50% of the 30 year average.

This scheduled release change is subject to changes in river flows and weather conditions.

For questions or concerns regarding these operations contact:

Erik Knight at (970) 248-0629 or e-mail at eknight@usbr.gov
Dan Crabtree at (970) 248-0652 or e-mail at dcrabtree@usbr.gov