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CRDSS <br />TASK MEMORANDUM 1.15-23 <br />Water Rights Planning Model <br />Paonia Project <br />1.0 ISSUE <br />This task memorandum describes the Paonia Project, which provides full and supplemental irrigation <br />water for 15,300 acres of land near Paonia and Hotchkiss. The Paonia Project consists of the Paonia <br />Reservoir and the Fire Mountain Canal, which diverts water from the North Fork of the Gunnison River <br />downstream of the reservoir. The project was completed in 1962, and the North Fork Water <br />Conservancy District (District) assumed responsibilities for operation and maintenance. By contract, the <br />District transferred the physical operation and maintenance of the project to the Fire Mountain Canal and <br />Reservoir Company. <br />Pursuant to the Ragged Mountain Exchange Agreement, the project provides supplemental irrigation <br />water for 2,400 acres of land upstream of Paonia Reservoir along East and West Muddy Creeks. <br />2.0 DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS <br />General Description of the Paonia Project <br />Paonia Reservoir stores the flows of Muddy Creek upstream of its confluence with the North Fork of the <br />Gunnison River. Downstream, direct diversions by the Fire Mountain Canal are supplemented with <br />storage releases from the reservoir during the late irrigation season. The drainage area tributary to <br />2 <br />Paonia Reservoir is approximately 250 miles , and the average annual discharge at the reservoir is <br />approximately 90,000 acre-feet. <br />When originally constructed, Paonia Reservoir had a capacity of 20,950 acre-feet. Because of <br />sedimentation, 3,489 acre-feet of its capacity has been lost, resulting in a total present capacity of 17,461 <br />acre-feet. The projected rate of capacity loss from sedimentation is approximately 100 acre-feet per <br />year. In the contract agreement dated June 11, 1947, (amended 1957, 1964, and 1968), between the <br />United States and the District, the United States reserved the capacity of Paonia Reservoir over and <br />above 11,000 acre-feet for the following purposes: 1) flood control, 2) dead storage, 3) sedimentation, <br />and 4) incidental releases to maintain fish life. This reserved capacity, when not used by the United <br />States, may be used by the District. <br />The District has agreed to operate the entire reservoir, filling and content, in accordance with operating <br />criteria established by the United States to obtain maximum flood control benefits and to assure the <br />storage pool is filled. Based upon forecasts, flood control operations generally draw the reservoir down <br />in late winter to reduce spills during spring runoff. <br />Tables 1, 2, and 3 summarize the physical features and water rights of Paonia Reservoir. <br />1 <br />A275 01.09.95 1.15-23 Fosha, Hyre <br />