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RGDSS Memorandum <br />Final <br />TO: Ray Bennett <br />FROM: Jim Brannon, Hydrosphere <br />SUBJECT: RGDSS Surface Water, Task 4.4 -District 35 Commissioner Interview <br />DATE: July 2, 1999 <br />CC: Randy Seaholm <br />Introduction <br />This memorandum represents partial delivery (1 of 8 interviews) associated with Task 4.4, Water <br />Commissioner Interviews / Prepare Summary Memoranda. The objective of this task is as <br />follows: <br />Meet with water commissioners of Division 3 regarding day-to-day operations and <br />administration practices within their districts. <br />On February 11, 1999, an interview was conducted with the Water Commissioner from Division <br />3, Water District 35. The purpose of this interview was to develop a better understanding of <br />District water rights and their administration such that this information could be reflected in <br />surface water modeling efforts associated with the Rio Grande Decision Support System <br />(RGDSS). The following discussion summarizes information developed during this interview. <br />Water Commissioners <br />The Water Commissioner for District 35 of Water Division 3 is Wayne Williams. Mr. Williams <br />has served as Water Commissioner since 1989. Prior to this date, Mr. Carl Eschemann was the <br />District 35 Water Commissioner. <br />Geographic Area of Responsibility <br />Mr. Williams oversees water rights administration of the entire District 35. His day-to-day <br />responsibilities include administration of Trinchera Creek and its tributaries as well as <br />miscellaneous small creeks originating in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Clevlend <br />Peaks on the north to Trinchera Peak on the south. <br />This District is bounded on the east by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is bounded on the west <br />by the Closed Basin Project and Rio Grande where the surface flows of the small creeks end. The <br />District extends north to the Baca Grant, and its southern extent is the watershed boundary of the <br />Trinchera Creek basin. <br />Water District 35 contains the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, the south half of the <br />Closed Basin Project and San Luis Lake, and the towns of Blanca and Fort Garland. <br />Commissioner Williams administers Trinchera Creek from its headwaters down to its confluence <br />with the Rio Grande. This is the only surface water system that is directly tributary to the Rio <br />C:Acdss\D35_Mem.doc District 35 Interview July 2, 1999 -Page 1 of 6 <br />