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. . . 1.913 The second event shows additional water accumulated in the Flood Control account du ri ng the Augu st 4, 1981, through August 12, 1981, per i od. The maxi mum amount of flood water in storage occurred on August 12 at 7,071.01 acre-feet. Release of the total 7,071.01 acre-feet is shown to have been made during the August 11 through August 17 period. A review of the records indicate that ditch diver- sions during the flood water release period were zero with minor exceptions. Recorded reservoir releases at the gauging station "Purgatoire River below Trinidad lake" exceeded flood water released plus Project diversions. However, records for the gauge "Purgatoire River at Trinidad" for four out of the seven days of flood water release show significantly less flow than was released from Trinidad Dam. Since these two gauging stations are only about three miles apart and only minimal diversion occurred between the two, it appears that one or the other of the gauging stations is in error. As such, it is inconclusive whether flood release during this event did or did not pass the Project area undepleted. Ouri ng the th i rd event, a tota 1 of 3,914.00 acre-feet of flood water was stored during the September 3, 1981 through September 13, 1981 period. The maximum accumu 1 at i ve flood water in storage occurred on September 8 at 3,228.31 acre- feet. The total of 3,914.00 acre-feet of stored flood flows is shown to have been released between September 9 and September 15. Review of ditch diversion records indicate that total diversion rates increased during the September 9 through September 12 period. Total recorded ditch diversions reached a maximum of 220 cubic feet per second by September 12. Flow records of total reservoir release, PrOject diversions, the Purgatoire River at Trinidad and Thatcher gauges indicate that the flood water released passed the Project area undepleted by project operations. The fourth event shows flood water stored during the April 1, 1982 through April 11, 1982 period totaling 259.81 acre-feet. Flood water releases totaling 259.81 acre-feet are, shown to have been made between April 15 and Apri 1 20, 1981. Analysis of the flow conditions during this extended period indicate that the length of time of storage, retention, and release was excessive. Also, the rate of flood water release {maximum of 25 c.f.s.1 was too low. Based on the flow records for this 'event it is inconclusive if release of this water was carried out to avoid depletion to downstream users. The fifth event of flood water storage and subsequent release occurred over the two day span of Ju ly 31 and Augu st 1, 1984. A tot a 1 of 106.42 acre-feet was stored and released. The flow records indicate that the reservoir release on July 31 was slightly less than flood water released plus project diversions. Therefore, whether the flood water passed the PrOject area without depletion is also inconclusive. . . . I . . . . Ii . .~ A letter from the law firm of Hill & Robbins, representing the State of Colorado, dated September 9, 1987, explains the procedure for release of flood flows from Trinidad Oam as requested of them during the meeting of February 5, 1987. The letter, after referring to the procedure as outlined in the Operating Principles states, "The water commissioner does this by computing the amount of i nfl ow temporari ly deta i ned. When such flood waters are re 1 eased, the water commissioner requires them to be bypassed by the Project ditches. He does that by either requiring the di,tches to bypass such releases or increasing the release from the reservoir to an amount in excess of what the ditches are diverting." We bel i eve that requi ri ng each ditch to bypass the fl ood releases wi 11 ade- quate ly protect the downstream interests, provi ded the bypass is measured at 50