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PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Project was authorized for construction by the Corps of Engineers under PL 85-500 (85th Congress S-3910 July 3, 1958, as described in House Document 325 84th Congress, 2d Session, January 1956). The multipurpose project was developed jointly by the Corps and the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation. Trinidad Dam and Reservoir are located some 3 miles southwest of the city of Trinidad, Colorado, and provide for storage and regulation of Purgatoire River flows for Project purposes. The reservoir controls flows originating above the reservoir for the benefit of the city of Trinidad and downstream farms and ranches. The Project also provides for the use of the available water supply for irrigation and for maintenance of a minimum pool for enhancement of recreation and fishery values. The recreation component is administered by the Colorado Division of Parks and Recreation. The Project was justified primarily on the basis of flood control with regulation of other storable flows for irrigation as an additional benefit. The District was organized for the purpose of contracting for repayment and for management of the project water supply. The lands within the Project area have been irrigated since the 1860's, however, the erratic nature of the unregulated Purgatoire River flow has not been conducive to effective and efficient irrigation practices. As a result, the need for conservation storage for irrigation was realized and incorporated into the Trinidad Project. The Project lands are located in the valley along the Purgatoire River and on uplands north of the valley extending downstream about 25 miles from the city of Trinidad. Except for limited storage in the off-channel Model Reservoir, (owned by the Model Land and Irrigation Company) which served 6,177 acres of the irrigated area prior to completion of the Project, no significant storage or regulation was available for the flow of the Purgatoire River. The Model Reservoir had a 20,000 acre-foot storage decree, but a reservoir survey in 1946 indicated that usable capacity had declined to only 6,200 acre-feet due to sediment deposition.. Except for this limited storage, the project area of about 19,700 acres was served by direct flow diversions through eleven (11) different ditches. The project retired the Model Reservoir, transferred the storage to the Trinidad Reservoir and provided for management of the direct flow ditches by the District. A project location map and a data sheet are appended to this attachment. BLANKMEM.WPD Page 2 of2