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Day-to-day operations are the responsibility of the District Manager, Mr. Robins. Board members primary responsibilities include tracking legal water actions (Court resumes) in the Valley and appearing in Water Court. The Board appoints the District Officers and hires the District Manager to act as liaison between Division 3 and the water users. The District Manager also monitors the actions of other water entities in relation to CWCD. Location and Membership The Conejos District boundaries include almost all lands irrigated by diversions from the Conejos River and its tributaries in Colorado. There are four senior ditches on the upper end of the Rio San Antonio that are not within the District (El Coda, Llano, Chavez and Los Pinos). The District generally serves to represent all water user interests along the Conejos River between Platoro Reservoir and the confluence with the Rio Grande. A map of the District is provided as Attachment 1. Water Use Lands within the District are almost exclusively flood irrigated from surface water diversions from the Conejos, Rio San Antonio and Rio Los Pinos. Facilities The principal facility owned by the District is Platoro Reservoir. Platoro, completed in 1951, was purchased from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1991. The District also owns the water right to store in Platoro. The District generally has full operational, maintenance and replacement responsibilities for the Reservoir. However, during flood control periods, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will assume control of Reservoir operations and instructs the District on appropriate operations. Operations Operational activities of the District focus around management of Platoro Reservoir. The District actively works with the State and the Conejos water users to optimize Reservoir use subject to certain physical and legal constraints, including Compact delivery requirements. An objective of the District is to manage water use such that Conejos River Compact delivery obligations are met on an annual basis. One of the more difficult challenges the District faces is managing under uncertain runoff forecasts. Platoro Reservoir was constructed from 1948 to 1951 and, as such, is considered a "post- Compact" reservoir. This has important implications on how and when the Reservoir can be used to store water (Article VII of the Compact). In general, additional storage in Platoro may not occur unless a) the Compact requirements of the Conejos River are being met on a day-to-day basis; orb) stored water is held until Compact requirements are met. Under the first scenario, stored water may be released to water users in Colorado. Under the second scenario, stored water may only be released to help meet Compact requirements at the state line. C:Acdss\CWCD.doc Conejos Water Conservancy District Interview June 22, 1999 -Page 2 of 5