WSP08932 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

$52,800.00 for 11,000 acre. feet of Project water. These payments made an impression on Members of Con- gress from other Stales, who realize that Projects such as the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project are good invest. ments for the United States, due to the fact that a ma- jor portion of the costs are repayed with interest, and C the benefits enhance the economic stability of the area . ) served. ~ ClCl ~ ~ PROPOSED WINTER STORAGE PROGRAM A major feature of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Proj. ect is the Proposed Storage of Winter flows of the Arkansas River in Pueblo Reservuir, thus making those waters available to the Irrigation Companies during the growing season. This concept was conceived by the Irrigation Companies during the planning period of the Fryingpan-Arksnsas Project. and it was heavily emphasized in testimony before the Committees of Congress prior to its authorization in 1962. Man)' in. dividual Members of Congress felt the better manage. nlent of native waters was as important 8S the impor- tation of Project waters. This feature of the Project also provided an additional "multiple use", which gained support for the over. all Project. During 1973 Officials of the Dislrict and the United States Bureau of Reclamation, held meetings wit~ the ten major Irrigation Companies below Pueblo, who can benefit from the Proposed Program. The en. tire operation must be \'oluntary, whereby the entities will withhold a call for decreed water rights during the non.irrigation season. and store those waters in off-channel reservoirs and in Pueblo Reservoir, rather than putting them on the lands as has historically been the case. This will completely change the irrigation practices in this productive agricultural sector, and meetings are held to evaluate various hydrologic studies, irrigation practices Bnd cropping patterns. It is the hope of the District, and the Bureau, that a co- operative experimental program can be agreed upon. to be implemented in December 1975 after Pueblo Dam is completed, and waters can be stored in Pueblo Reservoir. ANNUAL BUDGET In accordance with Colorado State Statutes, the members of the Board of Directors, working through their respecti\'e Committees and the Staff, carefully prepared a well defined Proposed Budget for 1974. based upon actual expenditures in previous years, anticipated requirements for the coming year, and estimated income. Copies of the Proposed Budget were then widely distributed throughout the District, and Legal Notices published in the newspapers of gen. eral circulation in the nine Counties in advance of the Official Budget Hearing. The Formal Hearing was held September 20,1973, at 1:30 p.m. at the District Offices, 905 Highway 50 Wesl, Pueblo, Colorado. 13 > .... .~.- -.: .. ---_.,~ WATER LITIGATION AND LEGISLATION During the past six years, members of the Colo- rado General Assembly have passed a number of Water Bills relating to Water Resource Management throughout the State, with particular emphasis on water supplies in the Arkansas Valley. The South. eastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, created under Colorado State Statutes, has a direct interest in all Water Legislation and Water Statutes, and in the administration of Water Laws passed by the General Assembly. It is necessary. therefore, that the Board of Directors authorize Legal Counsel for the District to review Applica.tions Filed, to .determine not only their effect on decrees owned by the District, and the ultimate operation of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, but also the over-all water regime within and without the confines of the District as set forth in the Statutes authorizing the creation of the District. The Board of Directors, after a thorough discussion of various Applications Filed in Water Courts. authorized Legal Counsel to represent the District in appropriate Courts of Law. Representatives from the District also spend time during the Annual Session of the Colorado Gen. eral Assembly working with members of the Legisla- ture on Amendments to Colorado Water Statutes, to help make current Water Laws more manageable. and more in tune with the times. The Directors are anxious that water litigation be held to an absolute minimum, while at the same time assuring the protection of the rights of decree holders under Colorado Water Doctrine. MUNICIPAL - INDUSTRIAL CONDUITS When the Congre!"s of the United States author- ized the constructiun of the Fryingpan.Arkansas Proj- ect in 1962, they provided that two separate Municipal. Industrial Conduits could be built after it was deter. mined the entities could not construct the Conduits themselves. Studies were subsequently made by the District and the Bureau. to affirm the fact it would be financially nece~sary for the Bureau and the Dis- trict to construct the Proposed Conduits. On July 1, 1071. the Board of Directors entered into a contract with the Engineering Firm of Black and Veatch to perfect an Economic and Engineering Feasibility Study on the "Proposed Arkansas Valley Conduif', which would serve municipal customers be. tween Pueblo and Lamar. This exhaustive Study was completed in Novemher 1972, and copies were imme. diately distributed te, the 43 entities which can be served by the Proposed Conduit. The Study provided 13 different alternatives to provide treated water, in- cluding a single Treatment Plant at Pueblo, or several Desalination Plants between Pueblo and Lamar. The Study wa.s made possible through funding hy the Dis- trict. U.s. Bureau of Reclamation, and the Four Cor. ners Regional Commission -- a Division of the Eco- ! .'". 14 . . -',.':","',-.'.. .-':;.'-.- . ... ,..~.