The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
High flows affecting recreation
By Alissa Johnson
Heavy rains have brought Taylor Park Reservoir and Blue Mesa Reservoir within inches of spilling over.
That’s a good thing for water supplies but has required that the Bureau of Reclamation maximize releases from both reservoirs, putting a damper on recreation and causing problems for property owners.
Luckily, inflows are decreasing and the short-term forecast looks like it is creating a reprieve.
According to Frank Kugel, general manager for the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, the rain coincided with spring run-off and took the Bureau of Reclamation by surprise.
“The rains that we received a couple of weeks ago have really strengthened the runoff projection for our basin. Previously, the Bureau of Reclamation was working off of snowmelt forecasts and had a good handle on those. But the rain came in and it was almost impossible to predict what affect that would have on runoff,” Kugel said.
On Wednesday, June 17, Bureau of Reclamation hydrologist Erik Knight sent an update to water managers indicating that despite releases of 1,200 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Taylor Park Reservoir, the reservoir was gaining water. Inflows the previous day had averaged more than 1,400 cfs. That left .15 to .2 feet of space (1.8 to 2.4 inches) below the spillway, and releases were subsequently increased to maximum levels of 1400 cfs.
“This is the maximum outlet capacity at the dam,” Knight wrote. “As long as inflows are not far above today’s [Wednesday’s] forecast, this should be enough to prevent a spill (not that there is any more capability to increase from the outlet anyways).”
According to information provided by Kugel, just two days later the reservoir surface was one inch below the spillway crest elevation. Blue Mesa Reservoir was .13 feet (1.56 inches) below full capacity, and its radial spillway gates were opened Friday, June 19 to help prevent a spill. Two of the four spillway gates at the Morrow Point Dam were also opened the following Monday.
Kugel also explained the risks to uncontrolled spillovers. The bureau loses its ability to regulate stream flows, and the added water can also upset aquatic ecosystems. For example, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has requested for years that a spill be avoided at Taylor Reservoir due to concerns about mysis shrimp.
“The concern with a surface spill has to do with the potential of a big pulse of live Mysis over the top and getting further down stream and potentially colonizing Blue Mesa,” explained Dan Brauch, CPW aquatic biologist. Mysis shrimp feed on the same zooplankton that trout and kokanee salmon utilize. “We do feel it would make management of the trout and kokanee fishery [in Blue Mesa] much more difficult.”
As of Monday, June 22, Kugel said, “Inflow at Blue Mesa Reservoir [was] somewhere at 7,000 cfs and the dam at Taylor Park Reservoir [was] releasing at 1,400 cfs, a fraction of the overall water going into Blue Mesa, but it impacts land owners along the Taylor River below the dam.”
Many trees washed down-river and had to be cleared from bridges and recreational areas. Some Gunnison River Festival events had to be postponed because the shoreline and walkways at the Gunnison Whitewater Park flooded. And rafting companies had to make adjustments to river trips.
Matt Brown, co-owner of Scenic River Tours, Inc, said while the high waters required some adjustments to rafting trips, they hadn’t canceled any and groups were still having a great time. “We’re still running trips twice a day every day,” he said, adding that they expect flows to be closer to normal by the end of the week.
The same went for Three Rivers Resort, where general manager Jen Bickford explained, “Whenever we have high water in early season we make adjustments as needed, and mainly what we did was adjust the minimum age requirement for the Upper Taylor and screened people visually. So even if they said they were 16, if they didn’t look strong enough, we said they needed to go to the Lower Taylor.”
Bickford also said Three Rivers Resort typically runs float trips on the Lower Taylor but have been running raft trips instead, making it more akin to the typical Upper Taylor experience. “It’s much safer if you can swim,” she said, adding that swimming is the main concern with high water levels. The paddling itself is a lot of fun.
“Guests who are going on the Upper Taylor come back grinning ear to ear and our guides are going out in multitudes after work and doing it again,” she said.
Other boat tours haven’t fared as well. Below Blue Mesa, the National Park Service suspended Morrow Point Boat Tours through at least June 25 due to the high releases from the Blue Mesa Dam.
Water flows are expected to return to more normal levels by the end of the week. By Wednesday, June 24, flows out of Taylor Park Reservoir had been reduced to 1290 cfs, with further reductions scheduled into the evening and the next day.
“We’re encouraged by the immediate-term forecast,” Kugel said. “It does not look like there is significant rain in the forecast for the rest of the week, so that should help allow stream flows to drop off and get back to manageable levels.”
