WSP12155

• File Number: 8542
• Description: Conejos Division - Platoro
• State: CO
• Basin: Rio Grande
• Water Division: 3
• Date: 7/19/1990
• Title: Platoro Background Paper
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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C~ PROPOSED OPERATIONS
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As originally envisioned by R. J. Tipton, a Colorado water

engineer and compact negotiator, Platoro would re-regulate the

water supply of the Conejos River and allow it to be fit to the

timing of water needs of the users.

He recognized that the

prevailing irrigation uses ware anything but efficient, and that
the "wild-flooding" practice was driven by the unreliabili ty of

the river itself. If some amount of storage could be provided to

hold back a portion of the runoff of May and June to provide a

dependable source of supply in July or August, then a much greater

degree of efficiency of water use could be obtained. Tipton felt.

that Platoro could essentially provide a full and regular supply

sufficient for the entire Conejos irrigated acreage.

Thus, the

questions of whose water rights would effectively be used or whose

rights would be affected, would all be mooted.

As it turns out, the project may not succeed in providing a

full supply to all potential users, as a result of fundamental
differences in hydrology from Tipton's expectations. Some of these
changes may be due to additional depletions in the San Luis Valley;
much of the change is due to the fact that the climate did not
behave as predicted from the short period of record used to develop
the compact. Not only would the project not extend all the way

around, but it would benefit some users more than others. The

current plan is to provide project storage benefits on a voluntary

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