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35. Also, the last column of Attachment 5 includes a descriptor that explains why a structure that <br />appears to meet one or more of the above criteria was not considered key. <br />Reservoir Storage Rights and Operations <br />There are three major reservoirs in District 35, including: <br />• Mountain Home Reservoir (capacity = 19,150 af) <br />• San Luis Lake (capacity = 14,397 af) <br />• Smith Reservoir (capacity = 5,000 af) <br />In addition, there are other decreed storage rights for smaller reservoirs, lakes and stock ponds in <br />the District. San Luis Lake is part of the federal Closed Basin Project. The District <br />Commissioner does not actively administer these storage facilities. <br />As with direct flow diversions, the surface water model being developed for the RGDSS will <br />consider certain storage structures as key. The District Commissioner confirmed that Mountain <br />Home and Smith reservoirs are the principal storage structures in the District and the only ones <br />that significantly effect water rights administration. <br />Mountain Home and Smith reservoirs are owned and operated by the Trinchera Irrigation <br />Company. Stage-Capacity tables for these reservoirs are provided as Attachments 6 and 7. <br />Mountain Home Reservoir was historically limited to 11,500 of (87' stage) until 1995 because of <br />spillway problems. In more recent years the highest stage observed has been 92 feet or 13,000 af. <br />Smith Reservoir is decreed for 5,000 a£ This reservoir usually fills by January or February of <br />each year. An informal exchange exists using Smith Reservoir for downstream delivery to senior <br />rights and allowing upstream junior rights to run from June through the end of the irrigation <br />season which allows the TIC to dry up Ute and Sangre de Cristo creeks at the Garland Ditch. <br />The TIC also uses Mountain Home Reservoir and Smith Reservoir for direct flow storage <br />Trans-Mountain Diversions <br />There is one trans-mountain diversion point within District 35: the Medano and Hudson ditches <br />on upper Medano Creek deliver water to the Wet Mountain Valley. Trans-mountain water <br />deliveries are recorded by the Commissioner and reported in the State's diversion database. <br />Day to Day Water Rights Administration <br />Water rights administration occurs by way of frequent and detailed communication between the <br />District 35 Commissioner and the ditch owners in the District. Due to the nature of this particular <br />district, this communication is often in the form of the ditch owners reporting to the <br />Commissioner what they are diverting or storing. The Commissioner carefully manages releases <br />from Smith Reservoir to meet the needs of the downstream irrigators on Trinchera Creek. <br />While some diversion records reflect actual observations by the Commissioners, diversions <br />through other structures may be reported by the ditch owners ("user supplied" information). <br />Records that are supplied by ditch owners typically occur on the smaller, junior water rights that <br />are less important from an administrative perspective. <br />C:Acdss\D35_Mem.doc District 35 Interview July 2, 1999 -Page 4 of 6 <br />