Rio Grande - Platoro Reservoir Restoration_Application & Scope of Work

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Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant Application Form Form Revised May 2007 Part A. - Description of the Applicant (Project Sponsor or O'kvner), ApplicantNarne(s): CONEJOS WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT Bob Robins, Manager Mailing address: P. O. Box 550 Manassa, CO 81141 Taxpayer ID#: XH-84-0776076 Email address: cwc548@centurytel.net Phone Numbers: Business: 719-843-5261 Home: 719-376-5708 Fax: 719-843-5452 Person to contact regarding this application if different from above: Name: Bob Robins and Michael J. Willett Position/Title Manager and President, respectively, of a seven member Board Provide a brief description of your organization below: see "Description of Applicant" in Part 2 of Criteria and Guidance for required information. The Conejos Water Conservancy District (CWCD or the District) is a public, quasi-govermnental entity-, eligible under SB 06-179 to apply for ftrnds for this structural water project at Platoro Reservoir (Platoro) on the Conejos River (the Conejos). The District's boundaries include about 100,000 acres, of which 86.000 acres are capable of being irrigated. An additional 8,000 acres that are not within the boundaries of the District are also irrigated by the Conejos and its tributaries. CWCD is the portion of the San Lads Valley Project Colorado which was designated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) in 1928 and formed in September 1940 under the Water Conservancy Act of'1938, codified at 37-45-101. In June, 1985, Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico spilled. There is a clause in the Rio Grande Compact which provides for elimination of a debt or credit if Elephant Butte Reservoir spills, so this erased Colorado's debt of approximately 900,000 acre feet to the Rio Grande Compact. It was right after this, under the Reclamation Reform Act of 1992, that the operation, control, and maintenance of Platoro Reservoir was transferred to the District (both documents are in Attachment A). CWCD then created the Platoro Enterprise to administer these new responsibilities. The only exception is during flood stage, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE) assumes control for flood control purposes. USACE relies upon parameters developed in the Flood Control Reservation Diagram shown in Attachment E. CWCD was formed ``in order to acquire and appropriate waters of the Conejos and its tributaries, to divert., store, and transport such waters by means of works, as defined in the Water Conservancv Act, to control floods by means of the works; to conserve, develop and