Rio Grande - Romero-Guadalupe Channel Rectification Project_Application

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Water Supply Reserve Account – Grant Application Form Form Revised May 200 7 _______________________________________ opportunity now, in cooperation with Natural Resources Co nservation Service (NRCS), to install properly engineered river structures – rock weirs and J - h ooks – systems which have been designed and have proven successful in fourteen other river installations. The NRCS has used this rock barb or J - hook design succ essfully in other places in the river , and it is now used exclusively by the Conejos Water Conservancy District. What we need, and what we propose here, is a system based on a clear understanding of the river variables that encourage stability. Previous at tempts have been incompatible with what D. L. Rosgen, professional hydrologist, calls the “rules of the river.” Despite our best intentions, our efforts were doomed to fail. W ith technical and funding assistance from NRCS and with Rio Grande Basin Roundtab le and Water Supply Reserve Account funds, we look forward to implementing this Romero - Guadalupe Project this fall . Service Area – Geography, Culture, & History : The installation site (see maps) is on the north bank of the Conejos River, comprising a bou t three/eighths of a mile in the SW of Section 24 , township 22 , Range 8 . The Ro mero Irrigation Company and the Guadalupe Main Ditch Company are two of the oldest ditch companies on the Conejos River, represent ing 58 percent of all the number - one priority w ater rights . The Conejos River is a tributary of the Rio Grande, approximately 60 miles long, in south central Colorado. It drains a scenic area of the eastern San Juan Mountains west of the San Luis Valley. The Conejos rises from snowmelt along the east s ide of the Continental D ivide west of Conejos Peak in western Conejos County, approximately 15 miles northeast of Pagosa Springs. It flows briefly northeast, through Platoro Reservoir, then southeast through the Rio Grande National Forest, then east along the New Mexico border through a scenic canyon. It enters the southwestern corner of the San Luis Valley from the west near Mogote and joins the Rio Grande from the west approximately 15 miles southeast of Alamosa. It is impounded at Platoro Reservoir for f lood control and to manage irrigation in the San Luis Valley, as part of the San Luis Valley Project of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The river is wide and shallow along much of its course. It descends steeply in several areas, including at Pinnacle Cany on, a popular destination for whitewater rafting. Off limits to white settlement during the New Spain years, many communities along the river claim roots in early land - grant settlements established by the government of Mexico in the 1830s. The first settle ment of 50 families along the river, in the Guadalupe Grant in 1833, was destroyed in an attack by Native Americans. José Jacques established the first white settlement on the river in 1851. The town of Conejos was founded in 1854 by Lafayette Head, who la ter became the first lieutenant governor of Colorado. Impact, Importance, and Urgency: Although the scope of this project is physically small, its effect and the implications of doing or not doing this project are immense. Under present conditions there is a very high likelihood of flooding. If the river le ft its b anks with a substantial volume of water , the entire irrigation system and the lands irrigated by them would be devastated . The Conejos River system , and therefore the Rio Grande Compact system, would suffer if a substantial volume of water went north, bypassng the Los Sauces gauge . This would, without any doubt, flood the community of Guadalupe, as it did before . Another urgency is financial. By doing this project in the fall of 2007, when the re is less water in the system, the costs of this installation, of repair s to t he ditch syste ms, and of all activities related to this channel ban k rectificatioin project will be much lower. What we propose here is an environmentally friendly approach to a long standing and increasingly fragile riverbank problem . Along with all other benefits, it will increase fish habitat and stabilize the riparian corridor along the north bank of the Conejos River . Most important, quick implementation of the Romero - Guadal upe Channel Rectification Project will avoid what is very clearly a disaster in the making, with implications that go far beyond the strategic placement of these rock weirs and J - hooks. Other Relevant Issues: The Conejos Water Conservancy District (CWCD ) and both Conejos ditch systems will assume responsibility for the maintenance of the project when completed. CWCD is a quasi - governmental agency formed under the Conservancy Act codified as 37 - 45 - 101. Its seven member board meets once per month in its o ffice at Manassa, and it has one full time employee. CWCD has benefited from assistance by NRCS on 9