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<br />Water Supply Reserve Account – Grant and Loan Program <br />Water Activity Summary Sheet <br /> <br /> <br />Applicant: Amount Requested: <br />Romero Irrigation Co. $83,700 <br />Water Activity Name: Source of Funds: <br /> Romero-Guadalupe Basin Account <br />Channel Rectification Project <br /> <br />Water Activity Purpose:Matching Funds: <br /> Structural Project Yes $88,600 <br />County: <br /> Conejos <br />Drainage Basin: <br /> Rio Grande <br />Water Source: <br /> Conejos River, a tributary of the Rio Grande <br />Water Activity Summary: <br />Romero Irrigation Company (Romero) and Guadalupe Main Ditch Company (Guadalupe), two of the oldest <br />ditch companies on the Conejos River, represent 58 percent of all the number-one priority water rights on the <br />Conejos. The Romero Irrigation Company, which takes fiscal and administrative responsibility for this <br />project, was incorporated as a 501(c)(12) mutual ditch company in the year 1900. It has 389.9 shares of <br />outstanding stock, irrigating 10,872 acres. Assessments are $75.00 per share with 53 shareholders. Romero <br />Ditch has some of the most senior water rights on the Conejos system, with all or a portion of the following <br />priorities: #1, #5, #23, #34, #66, #115, #119, #136, and #168, for a total of 667 cfs.. Total system length is <br />approximately 800 miles of canals and laterals. Organizationally, Romero has a five member board <br />composed entirely of stock holders. All assessments are used for the salary of one full time employee and <br />one part-time employee, with the remainder used for system maintenance. Guadalupe Main Ditch Company, <br />co-applicant, is the most senior ditch on the Conejos system. It has an 1855 priority decree for 13.46 cfs, <br />which irrigates approximately 900 acres. The remainder of the original decree has been transferred to other <br />ditch systems. It also carries water from the Brazos Del Norte decree, priority #139, for 20 cfs, which <br />irrigates another 900 acres, with 17 share holders holding assessments at $40.00 per share. Together, most of <br />the share holders in the combined Romero-Guadalupe systems are of Latino descent and have been <br />associated with this land for many generations, many families dating back to the founding of the State of <br />Colorado. <br /> <br />The funds from the WSRA will be used by the Romero Ditch Company and the Guadalupe Main Ditch <br />Company, to cover the costs of addressing multiple consumptive and non-consumptive needs of the ditch <br />companies and the Conejos River, while also reducing the potential future flooding of the community of <br />Guadalupe, Colorado. These goals will be accomplished by reshaping and improving the condition of the <br />channel of the Conejos River through strategic stabilization and restoration, by the placing of J-Hooks vane <br />structures, rock weirs and stream bank restoration, on a portion of the Conejos River, in south-west <br />Colorado. <br /> <br />The deliverables from the project include, but are not limited to the following: <br />A river channel that will hold expected and experienced floodwaters of the Conejos; maintain the stable <br />width: depth ratio of the channel; the ability of the river to pass suspended solids; ensure stability of <br />structures during flood events; maintain fish passage during all events, and improve fish habitat, improve <br />water quality, while complying with the Rio Grande Compact, of which the flows of the Conejos River are a <br />component. <br /> <br /> 1 <br /> <br />