C153716 Refinancing Approval Letter

• Contract/PO #: C153716
• Contractor Name: Purgatorie River Water Conservancy District
• Contract Type: Grant
• Water District: 0
• County: Las Animas
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Approval Letter

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STATE OF COLORADO

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Colorado Water Conservation Board

.Department of Natural Resources

721 Centennial Building
131 3 Sherman Street
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]

Roy Romer
Governor

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

James S. Lochhead
Executive DireclOr. DNR

Daries C. Lile. rE.
Director. C\VeB

FROM: Bill Green, P.E.
Project Planning and Construction Section

DATE: January 15, 1997

SUBJECT: Agenda Item 8.c., January 29-30,1997 Board Meeting - Water Project
Construction Loan Program - New Project Loan Applications - Purgatoire
River Water Conservancy District - Trinidad Project Refinancing

INTRODUCTION

The Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District is requesting a 40-year Construction Fund loan
of up to $1.5 million in order to retire the District's existing indebtedness to the Bureau of
Reclamation (Bureau) for irrigation capacity in the Trinidad Reservoir Project.

BACKGROUND

Trinidad Dam and Lake are located on the upper Purgatoire River, a tributary of the Arkansas
River, in Las Animas County (please see the attached Project Summary and map). The Corps of
Engineers owns and operates the reservoir with major responsibilities for flood control. The
Bureau administers a contract with the Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District (PRWCD)
which manages the irrigation capacity of the reservoir. Trinidad Lake has a total capacity of
about 126,000 acre-feet of which 20,000 acre-feet are for irrigation use by the PRWCD.

PROJECT SPONSOR

The PR WCD was organized forthe purpose of contracting for repayment of irrigation costs and
for management of project irrigation water supply. The District boundaries extend downstream
from Trinidad Lake for about 30 miles on both sides ofthe Purgatoire River (please see the
attached map).

Project water is supplied to eleven ditch companies with several hundred water users for the
irrigation of about 19,400 acres of land in the Purgatoire River valley below Trinidad Lake.
The District contracts with the ditch companies for operation and maintenance expenses and
repayment of the Bureau loan. All water from conservation storage is used for agricultural
purposes.