Southwest - La Plata West Rural Domestic Water Supply_Statewide Application

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Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant Application Form Form Revised May 2007 6. Water Availability and Sustainability - this information is needed to assess the viability and effectiveness of the water project or activity. Please provide a description of each water supply source to be utilized for, or the water body to be affected by, the water activity. For water supply sources being utilized, describe its location, yield, extent of development, and water right status. For water bodies being affected, describe its location, extent of development, and the expected effect of the water activity on the water body, in either case, the analysis should take into consideration a reasonable range of hydrologic variation. The proposed water supply will be derived from the Animas La Plata reservoir. The Colorado Ute Settlement Act Amendments of 2000 authorized the ALP Project to deliver municipal and industrial water allocations with average annual depletions of 57,100 acre-feet per year. The Animas La Plata Water Conservancy District (ALPWCD) has rights to purchase 2,600 acre feet of these depletions. The LPWWA has agreed in principle to purchase 700 acre feet of the ALPWCD depletions to supply the rural domestic water system in southwestern La Plata County. The City of Durango also has agreed in principle to purchase 1 ,900 acre feet of ALPWCD depletions. Other potentially invested parties also have rights to ALP water and could use the intake structure to access their allocated water. Because the water for the project will come entirely from allocated water rights diverted under the ALP agreements, impact to other water rights or water bodies in the project area have already been addressed. Ultimately, water from the ALP will provide a needed source of domestic water and reduce demands on the limited groundwater supply in the La Plata River basin. 9