Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Rio Grande in Mineral County. More recently, TNC's presence has helped create a corridor of over <br />275,000 acres of privately and publicly protected lands along the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains <br />on the east side of the SLY. This vast area of private conserved lands, along with the USFS and BLM <br />uplands and the Great Sand Dunes National Park, forms one ofthe largest protected corridors in Colorado. <br />This includes TNC's purchase ofthe 100,000 acre Medano-Zapata Ranch, which they continue to own and <br />manage. In collaboration with many community entities including the Rio Grande Water Conservation <br />District, TNC also facilitated the purchase of the 100,000 acre Baca Ranch, which provided for the <br />creation of the new Baca National Wildlife Refuge and the newly expanded Great Sand Dunes National <br />Park and Preserve. TNC is now focusing a great deal of its SL V efforts on the partnership for the Rio <br />Grande Initiative. <br /> <br />Collaboration =Capacity <br />The collaboration of these four entities to implement voluntary, incentive-based conservation easements, <br />along with the broad base oflocal community support (see Table of Supporters in the section on <br />Promoting Collaboration and Cooperation and attached letters of support) and involvement of the CDOW <br />and GOCO provides for substantial capacity for meaningful conservation of the Rio Grande corridor. We <br />have the opportunity and ability to achieve landscape-scale objectives that contribute to the long term <br />sustainability of the water, wildlife and agricultural viability of the river and the SL V community as a <br />whole. <br /> <br />4. If the Contracting Entity is different then the Applicant (Project Sponsor or Owner) please describe the <br />Contracting Entity here. <br /> <br />Same as above: The Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust is the applicant and will be the contracting entity <br /> <br />Part B. - Description of the Water Activity <br /> <br />1. Name of water activity/project: <br /> <br />I Rio Grande Initiative <br /> <br />What is the purpose of this grant application? <br /> <br />Purpose of the Rio Grande Initiative: <br />The Rio Grande Initiative is a collaborative, community-based effort to protect as much of the key private <br />lands and their senior surface water rights as possible, along the Rio Grande corridor in Colorado, through <br />voluntary, incentive based means - while we have the chance. Conserving the historic water use patterns <br />along the river through this project is a key element of the Rio Grande Basin Round Table's commitment <br />to creating water sustainability for our basin. <br /> <br />Purpose of this Request: <br />This application requests funding from the Water Supply Reserve Account (WSRA) Statewide and Rio <br />Grande Basin Accounts towards the purchase (through a willing-seller/willing-buyer process) of <br />permanent conservation easements on land and the associated senior surface water rights on the Rio <br />Grande. In preparation for this and other funding applications, we are currently in negotiation with <br />landowners for parcels with highly important water rights that are critical to the long term viability of the <br />SL V's agriculture, healthy wildlife habitat (including endangered species), functioning flood plain, and <br />overall water sustainability. <br />Prioritization Factors <br /> <br />Page 4 of 32 <br /> <br />Rio Grande Initiative <br /> <br />Janual'Y 2008 <br />