Curecanti Nat Rec Blue Mesa Res (# 0197)

Blue Mesa Reservoir of the Curecanti National Recreational area.

Blue Mesa is the largest of three reservoirs on the Gunnison, all are part of the Colorado River Storage Project. Though obviously a beautiful recreation area, the politics behind the creation of Blue Mesa Reservoir (and the other two Gunnison Reservoirs) are the politics of the western water battles. It is highly likely that attempts to manage the flow of the Colorado date back to the earliest inhabitants of the area, with attempts by the U.S. government dating back to the mid 1800’s. Major construction of dams on the Colorado began with the Colorado River Compact which focused on the lower portions of the river and required the states in the upper portion to deliver specified water flows to the lower portion. In the 1950’s, realization that the flow in the upper portion was less consistently dependable than had been expected, the Colorado Water Storage Project was created for the construction of reservoirs along the rivers that feed the upper Colorado, including the Gunnison. Blue Mesa was created by the construction of Blue Mesa dam in 1966 (photo later).

See:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curecanti_National_Recreation_Area
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Storage_Project