Southwest - Goodman Point Pipeline Environmental Assessment_BRT Approval Letter

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San Juan Water Conservancy District The San Juan Water Conservancy District in partnership with the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) have begun the 12 to 18 year process to construct Dry Gulch Reservoir (aka San Juan Reservoir in application) to provide municipal water to the Pagosa Springs area for the next 100 years. SJWCD and PAWSD have water rights for the reservoir and the diversion from the San Juan River to fill the reservoir, decreed in 2006. The details of the project are described in their application. The application is attached to this letter as an email. The extensive supporting documents have been provided to you separately by SJWCD in December. Due to the efforts of the volunteer Board President, SJWCD over the last two years has negotiated a land purchase agreement with the family who presently own most of the reservoir basin. SJWCD owning this land is absolutely critical to constructing this reservoir. The $1 million in funding, though a small portion of the overall Dry Gulch Reservoir construction cost of nearly $100 million, is extremely important at this time to secure the land purchase. SJWCD and PAWSD have studied, over the past 20 years, enlargements and new reservoir sites that could potentially meet future water needs and identified one enlargement and the new Dry Gulch Reservoir. In 2007 PAWSD will be initiating construction of a small enlargement of the existing Stevens Reservoir from 800 acre-feet to about 1,800 acre-feet, after over 15 years of studies and permitting. This is the only existing reservoir that has the potential for enlargement. With enlargement of Stevens Reservoir, PAWSD will have about 3,900 acre-feet of usable storage. PAWSD and SJWCD, based on water demand projections, have estimated additional storage is needed by 2015 but Dry Gulch Reservoir cannot be constructed and available for use until 2021 at the very earliest. The need is critical to proceed as quickly as possible with development of Dry Gulch Reservoir. SJWCD and PAWSD are in the process of initiating various types of fees that are planned to generate adequate funds to eventually construct Dry Gulch Reservoir but presently there are not adequate funds for the land purchase. Dry Gulch Reservoir was included in the Statewide Water Supply Initiative Study report as ?Major Identified Projects and Processes?. The Southwest Roundtable highly recommends that the CWCB fund this critical project from the State ?pool? of SB179 funds.