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<br />"":~'"'. <br />1:_ .:- <br />v<"c~ <br /> <br />the construction of the Wagon Wheel Gap Dam and Reservoir on the Rio Grande <br />'Which is needed to provide adequate irrigation water supplies for the Valley <br />and other benefits to both the Valley and the Rio Grande Basin. <br /> <br />A principal opportunity for the econllllllical salvage of water in the <br />Valley exists in the reduction of water losses vithin the Closed Basin sump <br />lU'ea 'Where unconfined ground waters, surface water from tributary streams, <br />irrigation wastes and return flovs, and some lU'tesian innovs, all suscepti- <br />ble to salvage, lU'e presently lost "through nonbeneficial evaporation and <br />transpiration. A plan of deVelopment to salvage an average of 101,700 acre- <br />feet of water aml.Ually from a water salvage lU'ea of about 108,600 acres in <br />and adJacent to the thalweg and sump of the Closed Basin was presented in <br />the Jul.y 1963 feasibility report "Plan of Development of Closed Basin Divi- <br />sion, San Luis Valley ProJect,Colorado.'" In that report, it was estimated, <br />on the basis of records then available for stu.dy, that delivery of salvaged <br />water to the Compact station at Lobatos over a 35-yelU' period woul.d .:permit <br />Colorado to achieve a debit-free Compact status, but no firm forecast of <br />the period required coul.d actually be made. The 35-yelU' period was based <br />upon an average debit accrual rate of 59,200 acre-feet per yelU', with partial, <br />initial delivery of salvaged water from the first of five stages of con- <br />struction occurring in Calendar Year 1965 and :f'ull salvage potential being <br />realized in Calendar Year 1972. If construction of salvage vorks shoul.d be <br />significantly delayed, or the long-time average rate of debit accrual be <br />increased, a longer period of time woul.d be required for achievement of <br />debit-free status by Colorado. <br /> <br />Delaying of the development of the water resources of the San <br />Luis Valley is undesirable, as such development wou1.d benefit the entire <br />Rio Grande Basin, and the nation. It is readily apparent that all economic <br />potentialities of water salvage, m..n..gement. and conservation shoUld be <br />effected as rapidly as pOSSible, as is being done in the remaining portions <br />of the Rio Grande Basin above Fort Quitman, Texas. <br /> <br />....... ,f' '" ~'\ <br />C. ',.' -.;k.V <br /> <br />4 <br />