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".~(;;j_. - -'-'~":"~':. , C'~ ... It) U1 Q'.> '-~ r,~ f ~ Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District Helping to Meet Your Water Needs Since 1958 Ralph Adkins President - Pueblo 1994-1998 letter from the President 1997 in Review The year 1997 brought additional challenges to the District as the Storage Study Committee worked diligently throughout the year to bring into focus the long term water needs of some 27 entities in the valley. This work continues into 1998. This year brought the District its toughest decision as the Bureau of Reclamation engineers arrived at the decision that Pueblo Dam was not safe enough to permit full storage and that storage must be reduced some 38,000 acre-feet until remedial work could be completed. This decision led to the farmers not storing any Winter Water in Pueblo Reservoir to preclude its being spilled and the money they'd invested lost. To compound the challenge, the Bureau's Ability to Pay Study found that the farmers had no ability to pay toward the repayment obligation of the District. Negotiations are well advanced toward a resolution of this problem, using "Willingness to Pay" as the barometer. Bureau excessive 0 & M costs continue to be a concern, and discussions continue on how to bring them inlo line with industry standards. During 1997 a total of 75,648 acre-feet of Project Water was allocated to municipal and agricultural water users within the southeast District. Of this total, 15,729 acre-feet went to municipal users and 59,919 acre-feet to agricultural users, including well owners. The 1997.98 Winter Storage Program stored only 124,607 acre-feel because the Pueblo Dam repair project did not allow storage in this facility. In 1997 five Directors terms were completed, and all successfully requested reappointment. They are: Lee Simpson: Pueblo County Orville Tomky: Crowley County Edward Bailey: EI Paso County Glenn E. Everett: Chaffee County Frank Milenski: Otero County The Kansas-Colorado case still lingers on with no definite termination in site. The Master hopes to close it by 2000, The \Vater Activity Enterprise is working \\"ell handling rerurn t10w sales and further use \vill smooth out the bumps.