C150205 Feasibility Study

• Contract/PO #: C150205
• Contractor Name: Veits Pipeline Company
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 34
• County: Montezuma
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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Hydrology and Water Rights
The source of water for the Ditch(s) is direct flow water rights out of the Mancos River. The
water diverted at the headgate will consist of 7 different water priorities appropriated between
1877 and 1893 totaling 9.5 cfs plus 19 rights to a total of 540 acre feet of storage water in the
Jackson Gulch Reservoir that are used mostly to supplement adjudicated rights late in the
irrigation season. Records of the State Engineer's Office indicate that total average annual
diversions are 2051 acre feet, for years 1974-2003, and thatthe maximum diversion was 1582
acre feet in the Boss Ditch in 1995 and 1767 in the existing Number Six Ditch in 1975. A
summary of water rights and the State Engineer Diversion records for 1974-2003 appear at the
end of this document

Project Description and Alternatives
The Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA (NRCS) and the Salinity Control
Forum have expanded the Salinity Control Area in Montezuma County to include the Mancos
Valley. The NRCS has approved a Salinity Control Project to place individual irrigation ditches
in the Mancos Valley into pipelines to reduce seepage and the amount of salt that leaches into
the Mancos River. The Project Plan and Environmental Assessment (the Plan) will be provided
upon request

The Company is included in the Plan as the Boss Ditch and the Number Six Ditch. The
consolidated Number Six Ditch Pipeline Project has subsequently been funded to receive 75%
cost share funds from the EQIP program of NRCS. The benefits to Company members include:
1. eliminate water losses and get all of the water home.
2. eliminate cleaning and maintenance of the open ditch.
3. a single large pipeline costs much less that several small pipelines for transport of
water.
4. a 75% cost contribution will make the project affordable and spur the water users to
organize, agree and make decisions.
5. make improvements to the river channel to increase the amount of water reaching the
diversion point.
6. provide correct measurement and delivery of water to individual water users.