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<br />ground water resources in the confined aquifer that lies under the floor of the San Luis <br />Valley. (Attachment 5: Clippings). These proposals include pumping 100,000 to <br />200,000 acre-feet from that aquifer and subsequent export from the Valley to serve other <br />interests, including municipal supplies. Possible cities that have been discussed include <br />those along the Front Range in Colorado, large metro areas in New Mexico, Texas and <br />Mexico along the Rio Grande, as well as metropolitan areas that divert from the Colorado . <br />River. In 1986, an entity called A WDI attempted to adjudicate such a proposal in court <br />,but was defeated several years later. (Attachment 6: Supreme Court Opinion). <br /> <br />The current owner, Stockman's Water Company, has been studying a similar proposal <br />but has not yet filed an application in court to pursue their claims. It is believed that this <br />type of development would negatively impact the reserved rights of the Monument as <br />well as possibly destabilize the dune mass by lowering the water table that supports <br />dunes. Other possible concerns relevant to a proposed development on the Baca Grant <br />include injury to irrigation wells on the valley floor, the Closed Basin Project (a Bureau <br />of Reclamation Project) and the Rio Grande and Conejos Rivers which are hydraulically <br />connected to the confined aquifer and are subject to the Rio Grande Compact. The actual <br />impacts have not been definitely established at this time. The State Engineer and the <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board are currently involved in a 3-year study (Rio Grande <br />Decision Support System) to determine the potential if any of new wells in the confined <br />aquifer and what their impact might be to the existing regime. <br /> <br />:"e.:., <br />, <br />,,~;, <br /> <br />The Baca Grant has six major streams that flow from the Sangre de Cristo Range onto the <br />ranch. The.streams were fully appropriated and decreed by the previous owners of the <br />ranch and ate able to divert and use most of the water available during the irrigation <br />season. Winter flows are generally not diverted since they succumb to stream <br />transmission losses before they get very far on to the valley floor. The ranch also owns a <br />number of irrigation and stock wells from both the confined and unconfined aquifers. <br />(Attachment 4). <br /> <br />MEDANO AND ZAPATA RANCHES <br />The Medano and Zapata Ranches, which lie adjacent to the Monument to the west and <br />south, have recently been purchased by The Nature Conservancy. These two ranches <br />have numerous surface rights and a few domestic type wells associated with them. <br />(Attachment 4). <br /> <br />ISSUES <br />The acquisition of the ranches surrounding the Monument and creation of a National Park <br />could greatly enhance and protect the long term viability and values that exist in the <br />Monumenttoday. Such action would essentially eliminate the threat of adverse impacts <br />related to water exports, secure effective operation of the Closed Basin Project, and assist <br />Colorado in meeting our interstate compact obligations to downstream states, <br /> <br />,'"-"",> <br /> <br />. "\ <br />" , <br />"-.0/ <br />