Rio Grande - Manassa Conejos River & N Branch Stabilization_BRT Approval Letter

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• It protects the cultural values inherent in six generations of farming in a region that first relied on the historic acequia irrigation systems of Spanish land grant settlement. • It protects and enhances cultural and historical resources, which are of high value to local families who enjoy hunting, fishing and outdoor activities along the Conejos. • It ensures that potential critical habitat is preserved for the T & E species of the southwest willow flycatcher, the bald eagle, and the yellow-billed cuckoo. The urgency of this Project cannot be overstated. Both the Core and the Diversion Gates require weekly and sometimes daily maintenance due to floating debris, logjams, high sediment load, bank erosion, and streambank instability. The effects of this problem include operational difficulty in meeting irrigation needs; poor water quality due to bank instability and resulting high sediment load; negative impacts on the condition of fisheries downstream of the diversion; lack of control and frequent documented losses of Compact waters during high flows; and the very real threat of flooding for communities north of the Conejos. If water were to breach the north bank of the main channel of the Conejos, the river channel would change course, bypassing the Rio Grande Compact gauging station at Los Sauces, seriously affecting all water users downstream on both channels, and flooding the agricultural communities of Conejos County and the town of Manassa. These risks are currently the burden of all water users in the 42 ditch companies on the main and north channels of the Conejos. Twelve of these ditch companies rely upon the North Branch diversion to irrigate a total of 24,850 acres, with excess flows returning to the main channel east of Manassa where they contribute to fulfilling Colorado's Rio Grande Compact obligation. In this proposal, MLI requests funds to address and remedy the issues associated with the North Branch diversion of the Conejos River. These include, re-shaping the channel, stabilizing the streambank, replacing the Core and the Diversion Gates, and enhancing riparian areas at this bifurcation point. The overall Project will restore full operational capacity to both structures, meet multiple consumptive and nonconsumptive needs in both the main channel and the North Branch, and improve the Conejos' ability to fulfill its Compact obligation to downstream states. This request is for funding a portion of The Conejos River & North Branch Diversion & Stabilization Project, which addresses the critical objective of achieving water sustainability in the Rio Grande Basin. This will be accomplished through (1) improving water quality in the form of reduced sediment loading of the river, (2) improving wildlife habitat and fisheries, (3) increasing sediment carrying capacity of the river, (4) sustaining historic water flows in a manner that supports agriculture, and (5) assisting the Colorado Division Engineer in meeting Colorado's Rio Grande Compact obligations. The total funds requested from the Water Supply Reserve Account, SB 2005 -179, of $383,700.00, will be used for riparian and stream bank stabilization ($26,700.00) and for replacement of the Core and Diversion Gates ($357,000.00). The overall deliverables for the Project will include a stabilized stream bank that will reduce the risk of the Conejos leaving its banks and the resulting flooding, a restored riparian Page 3 of 4