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<br />.-. "..; t:. l' <br /> <br />... - =-.c-.. <br /> <br />(303) 237-5146 <br />(303) 232-0857 FAX <br /> <br />DANIELSON & ASSOCIATES, INC. <br />CONSULTING ENGINEERS <br />6805 WEST FOURTH A VENUE <br />LAKEWOOD, COLORADO 80226 <br /> <br />JERIS A. DANIELSON. PH.D~ P.E. <br />PRESIDENT <br /> <br />September 5, 1995 <br /> <br />The Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 721 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br /> <br />Re: Purchase of the Trinidad Project by the Purgatoire River Water Conservancy <br />District <br /> <br />Dear Board Members; <br /> <br />) <br />) <br /> <br />// <br /> <br />First, on behalf of the Board of the Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District, let me <br />express our gratitude for placing the purchase of the Trinidad Project on your meeting agenda for <br />September 8, 1995. <br /> <br />The Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District (PRWCD) is the contracting and <br />repayment entity for the re-imbursible portion of the Trinidad Project which is a Corps of <br />Engineers project with the irrigation component administered by the U.S. Bureau of Rec1amation. <br />The Project consists primarily of Trinidad Dam which allows for the storage and re-regulation of <br />old, established water rights that serve approximately. 19,700 acres in the Trinidad area. Crops <br />grown are primarily alfalfa and corn with some small grains and irrigated pasture. <br /> <br />The total repayment obligation of the PRWCD is $6,435,600 to be paid over a 70-year <br />period. The PRWCD has paid $809,592 during the lO-year period ending December 31, 1994, <br />leaving a balance due of $5,626,008 over the remaining 60 years. The average annual <br />construction cost repayment is approximately $94,000 which when added to the annual charge for <br />water, which can be as high as $140,000, amounts to an annual repayment amount of up to <br />$234,000. This amounts to a per acre-foot cost of water to the irrigator of nearly $12.00 which <br />when added to the annual canal assessments means farmers are paying in excess of $24.00 per <br />acre-foot of water delivered at the river headgate. <br /> <br />The PRWCD has determined that the only feasible economic approach to the Project is to <br />purchase the project facilities and to operate and maintain them itself and has begun the process of <br />securing the necessary federal legislation to effect the transfer of ownership. The PRWCD is <br />actively seeking sources of funding to accomplish the purchase and expects to approach the <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board for financing in fiscal year 1995-96. The PRWCD <br />respectfully requests the CWCB to consider a combination grant and loan in an amount up to <br />$1,500,000 along the line~ of what was done for the Conejos River Water Conservancy District <br />in the purchase of Platoro Reservoir. <br />