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<br />DD:~51 <br /> <br />ecosystem downstream from McPhee Dam, and water for fish and wildlife development in the <br />Dolores Project area. McPhee Reservoir on the Dolores River is the primary water storage <br />facility. <br /> <br />The Dolores Project plan was modified in 1989 to reduce salinity impacts in the basin by lining <br />or piping canals and ditches and combining Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company (MVIC) <br />ditches to reduce the seepage that caused salt loading to area rivers. MVIC is a private irrigation <br />company with private irrigation water rights that predate the Dolores Project. The Natural <br />Resources Conservation Service also provided technical and cost share assistance to the farmers <br />on the MVIC system to convert to sprinkler irrigation to reduce deep percolation and salt loading <br />of irrigation return flows. Additional background on the salinity control program can be found in <br />the Consultation and Coordination section of this EA (see Comments and Responses numbers 7- <br />16). <br /> <br />Over the last 5 to 10 years MVIC's water demands have been reduced due to increased irrigation <br />efficiency and the subdivision of irrigated land into smaller tracts. MVIC has agreed to sell the <br />DWCD Class B shares available from their senior water rights, these shares represent <br />approximately 6,000 acre-feet of water with the possibility of attaining an additional 2,000 aCre- <br />feet of water in the future. The shares represent a combination of non-project and Dolores <br />Project water in an average proportion of approximately 9 to 1. Class B shares are junior to <br />Class A shares; therefore, if there is a shortage of MVIC water, the Class B shares may not <br />receive the full 6,000-8,000 acre-feet, A condition of purchasing the Class B shares is that the <br />water be used for irrigation in Montezuma and Dolores Counties. The OWeD proposes to carry <br />this water to irrigate presently dry farmed lands in the Dove Creek area using Reclamation- <br />owned canals and facilities, and by constructing additional DWCD-owned pumping plants and <br />laterals. <br /> <br />MVIC would continue to be limited to a total annual diversion of 150,400 acre-feet from the <br />Dolores River, including the 6,000-8,000 acre-feet, as described in contracts related to the <br />Dolores Project. <br /> <br />Puroose. Need. and Authoritv <br /> <br />A contract is needed to allow the DWCD to carry non-project water through Reclamation-owned <br />canals and facilities. The primary purpose would be to make additional irrigation water available <br />in the Dove Creek area while protecting the purposes and operations of the Dolores Project. The <br />contract would be signed under the authority of the Warren Act, February 21, 1911 (36 Stat. 925) <br />and 43 CFR 426. 1 8(b) as well as the Dolores Project authorizing legislation. <br /> <br />4 <br />