Habitat Restoration and Protection
Western Rivers
A Double Win for the Gunnison!
We have excellent news to report! Western Resource Advocates has helped win two major legal victories that will benefit Colorado's spectacular Gunnison River.
Protecting Water Resources in the Black Canyon National Park
In September of 2006, in an historic decision, U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer issued a decision to protect the magnificent natural resources of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. This decision blocks the federal government from giving away the Black Canyon’s long-standing reserved water right to those who would like to use the water for development on Colorado’s Front Range. The decision also establishes an important precedent about governmental responsibility for protecting water resources of National Parks across the country.
Carved over the millennia by the Gunnison River, the Black Canyon is recognized as a national treasure for its spectacular gorges, wildlife habitat, and unique scientific value. It is home to a world-class trout fishery and mesmerizes visitors with its wild roar of cascading water, especially when it reaches its peak flow each spring. The Black Canyon became a national monument in 1933 and was elevated to National Park status in 1999.
With the court’s decision, the Black Canyon was saved from a 2003 agreement between the federal government and Colorado officials that would have opened the possibility of diverting Gunnison River water a hundred miles away from the park for use fueling more Front Range sprawl. The back-room water deal the Interior Department cut with Colorado to give away the Black Canyon water rights was a lot like the Wizard of Oz—lots of smoke and mirrors, but nothing real underneath to protect the park. We explained to the judge that the 2003 deal didn’t give the Park a water right; it gave it a water wish. The judge understood that, in Colorado, that’s like having no water right at all.
Judge Brimmer’s decision is the culmination of many years of effort by Western Resource Advocates representing five other conservation organizations and working in partnership with Trout Unlimited and the National Parks Conservation Association. The law firm of Hogan and Hartson provided invaluable pro bono assistance to us, our clients, and our partners in this litigation.
We are strongly encouraging stakeholders to go back to the negotiating table and develop a solution that protects in-basin water users, while also providing the national park with a water right that protects and restores the Gunnison River.
Read the Press Release
Union Park Dam Stopped - Again
In the fall of 2006, WRA also helped secure a second victory that will protect the headwaters of the Gunnison basin from construction of the proposed Union Park dam. The dam would have been ecologically destructive, and was strongly opposed by local water users.
The concept of a large new dam in the headwaters of the Gunnison River—often called the Union Park project—has been around for many years. A first proposal for a huge dam was rejected after a decade-long legal battle in the 1990s when the courts ruled that there simply wasn’t enough water available for a new water right of such massive size. The project rejected was for a scaled-down Union Park reservoir.
WRA worked for over a decade with our client High Country Citizens’ Alliance (HCCA) to stop this proposal. Our work also united us with many others in the Gunnison basin, including the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, the Colorado River Water Conservation District, Gunnison County, and private land owners.
WRA is committed to protecting the Gunnison River for the long haul, and we hope you will join us in celebrating our recent victories.
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