Crystal Reservoir
| Crystal Reservoir | |
|---|---|
| Location | Montrose County, Colorado |
| Type | Reservoir |
| Part of | Wayne N. Aspinall Storage Unit (Bureau of Reclamation) |
| Primary inflows | Gunnison River, Cimarron Creek, Crystal Creek, Mesa Creek |
| Managing agency | Curecanti National Recreation Area (National Park Service) |
| First flooded | 1976 |
| Max. length | 6 mi (9.7 km) |
| Surface area | 340 acres (140 ha) |
| Water volume | 26,000 acre feet (32×106 m3) |
| Surface elevation | 7,160 ft (2,180 m) |
| Settlements | Gunnison, Colorado; Montrose, Colorado |
| Website | https://www.nps.gov/cure/index.htm |
Crystal Reservoir is a 340-acre artificial reservoir on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Located in the upper Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the lake was created in 1976 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as part of a larger plan to impound the upper section of the Gunnison for the generation of hydroelectric power, water storage, and public recreation. Crystal Reservoir is managed by the National Park Service as an element of the Curecanti National Recreation Area. Located at the far western end of Curecanti, Crystal Reservoir is the smallest, least developed, and least accessible of the three reservoirs within the park.
Crystal Reservoir is part of the Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project, a Bureau of Reclamation project that retains the waters of the Colorado River and its tributaries, such as the Gunnison, for agricultural and municipal use. Crystal Reservoir was created by the impoundment of the Gunnison River approximately 6 miles west of Morrow Point Dam by Crystal Dam, a 323-ft. concrete double-arch dam built by the Bureau of Reclamation. The last of three reservoirs impounded for the Aspinall Unit, construction on Crystal Dam began in 1973, 5 years after the completion of Morrow Point Dam and 7 years after the completion of Blue Mesa Dam. The western most of the three reservoirs, Crystal is the last impoundment before the river enters the deep and dangerous Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
Crystal Reservoir is part of the Curecanti National Recreation Area, a National Park Service administered area responsible for developing and managing recreation facilities on the three reservoirs of the Aspinall Unit.
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