Rio Grande - Manassa Conejos River & N Branch Stablization_Application

Home Browse Search

Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant Application Form Fonn Revised May 2007 Part A. - Description of the Applicant (Project Sponsor or O'kvner); Applicant Name(s): Manassa Land and Irrigation Company 318 Main Street Mailing address: Manassa, CO 81141 Taxpayer ID#: Email address: mnssclark@aim.com Phone Numbers: Business: 719-843-5440 Home: 719-580-0844 Fax: 719-843-5440 Person to contact regarding this application if different from above: Name: Jack Gilleland Position/Title President Provide a brief description of your organization below: see "Description of Applicant" in Part 2 of Criteria and Guidance for required information. Manassa Land and Irrigation Company (MLI), Nvas incorporated in 1903 as a 501(c)(12) company, one of the oldest mutual ditch companies on the Conejos River, representing approximately 40 percent of all the number one priority Nvater rights on the Cone jos. MLI is the applicant, taking fiscal responsibility and administrative lead on this project because it is the only incorporated ditch company and the largest water user on the North Branch of the Conejos River. The company's 250 shareholders have 47,000 shares of outstanding stock, with assessments at $1.20 per share. North Branch iyater users irrigate 24,850 acres through approximately 40 miles of canals and laterals. Of these, 21,600 are considered primaiv acres (18,000 MLI acres and 3,600 other acres) which can only divert through this bifurcation structure. An additional 3,250 secondarv acres in the Richfield system are occasionally irrigated through this diversion. Appendix A details the various ditch decrees. MLI's 5-member Board is composed entirely of stockholders. Assessments are used for the salary of one full-tine ditch rider and a part-time administrative secretary, with the remainder for maintenance and operation. This portion of the Conejos River watershed has been farmed for more than five generations, with many of the earliest water rights dating back to the late 1800s and the founding of the State of Colorado. Census figures for 2000 show Conejos County population as 59% Hispanic, Nvith 42% speaking Spanish. About 20% of MLI's shareholders are of Latino descent. Land use patterns in the San Luis Valley emerged from small-scale fertile subsistance farming of the Spanish land grant system to become today's San Luis Valley agribusiness sector, contributing an estimated $116.2 million to Colorado's economv in 2000.