Laserfiche WebLink
<br /><;~'C;""_"". ,:,~., <br /> <br />20 <br /> <br />co <br />LI"') <br />..q< <br />~~ schedules in Article III of the Rio Grande River Compact indicate the <br />C) <br />~ amount of water that must be provided at certain lower gauging stations. <br /> <br />As in 1973 when almost 373,000 acre feet were diverted into the Closed <br /> <br />Basin,20 a significant strain is put on Colorado to fulfill its Compact <br /> <br />commitments. Therefore, provided the water quality standards of Article III <br /> <br />of the Compact are met, water that would otherwise go to waste could be <br /> <br />made available to New Mexico and Texas. <br /> <br />III. WATER RIGHTS AND ORGANIZATION IN THE VALLEY <br /> <br />In the early 19th century the Va 11 ey was a grazi ng area with a fel, <br /> <br /> <br />irrigated plots nestled in the river valleys.21 The early Mexican settlers <br /> <br />along the Culebra and Conejos Rivers, however, began the construction of a <br /> <br />series of small irrigation canals. These people were forced out of the <br />Valley by hostile Indians but returned in the early 1850s.22 This time <br /> <br />the settlers remained and dug the <br /> <br />San Luis People's <br />23 <br />Colorado. <br /> <br />Ditch, which is the <br /> <br />"-j <br /> <br />oldest ditch in continuous use in <br /> <br />For the next several decades, irrigation remained on a small scale. <br /> <br />It was not until the 18805, after the arrival of the American settlers, <br /> <br />that large scale irrigation systems were planned and constructed, culmi- <br /> <br /> <br />nating in the surface water distribution system as it exists today.24 <br /> <br />The two largest ditches constructed during this period were the Rio <br /> <br />Grande Canal, which diverts water from the Rio Grande River northward into <br /> <br />20Colorado State Engineer's Office, Div. of Water Resources, unpublished <br />field records, Division Three Office (Alamosa, Colorado, 1968-74). <br /> <br />21Spencer, The Story of the San Luis Valley, p. 65-70 (1975). <br /> <br />22Hafen, supra. <br /> <br />23S '1 <br />ml ey, supra. <br /> <br />24 <br />Hafen, supr~., p. 129. <br />