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.,...j l"'- "' C\J The project would have a favorable impact on the tax base of Garfield County. About 10,500 acres of land presently dryland-farmed would, under project conditions, be assessed at the irrigated rate. Expenditures for new homes, new farm buildings and equipment would broaden the tax base. Repayment of project costs would be accomplished during a SOMyear period. Municipal and industrial users would repay their portion of project cost with interest. Construction costs allocated to agriculture would be repaid without interest. Irrigators would be required to pay according to their ability. Ad valorem taxes collected by the district would be used to assist in irrigation repayment. The balance of irrigation project costs would be repaid by the Basin Fund of the Colorado River Storage Project. MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL The communities and rural residents in the West Divide Project area do not have adequate municipal and domestic water supplies. The supply is limited and uncertain, the storage facilities are limited, the quality is poor, or a com- bination thereof. These problems are particularly acute in view of projected population growth related to oil shale development. With the project, municipal water would be available directly from Beaver and Battlement Creeks by exchanging releases from Dry Hollow Reservoir for water from these creeks that is now being used for irrigation. Water would also be directly available from Kendig Reservoir. Grand Valley, and the potential planned unit development community of Battlement Mesa proposed by the Colony Development Operation, would receive high-quality water from Battlement Creek by the above-described exchange. These communities would be responsible for providing off. stream storage. The town of Rifle would be enabled to maximize diversions of high-quality water from Beaver Creek by exchange. Rural users and Rifle would also receive West Divide Creek water stored in Kendig Reservoir. The following table shows projected populations and average annual water production from the project. A<ea 2020 Population Acre-Feet Gallons Grand Valley 3,000 400 130,330,000 (includes town of Grand Valley) Battlement Mesa (PUD) 8,700 1,200 391,000,000 Rifle 17,500 4,100 1,335,900,000 Rural Areas 4,300 600 195,500,000 The proposed municipaL and industrial pipeline would be about 14 miles long and would convey 16 cubic feet per second from Kendig Reservoir to a potential treatment plant about 2 miles northwest of the reservoir. The West Divide Conservancy District would be responsible for constructing and operating this plant to serve rural areas and deliver potable water near the existing South Rifle Treatment Plant near Beaver Creek. IRRIGATION The West Divide Project would provide 63,000 acre-feet of new water supplies each year to irrigate lands south of the Colorado River between