Rio Grande - Rio Grande Reservoir Reoperation and Optimization Model_Modeling Summary

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Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant and Loan Program Water Activity Summary Sheet Agenda Item 7c Applicant: San Luis Valley Irrigation District Amount Requested: $100,000 Water Activity Name: Rio Grande reservoir Multi-Use Rehabilitation - Refinement and Enhancement of Reservoir Reoperation and Optimization Model Source of Funds: Rio Grande Basin Account Matching Funds: None Water Activity Purpose: Study or analysis of a structural project and nonstructural water activity County: Alamosa, Rio Grande, and Saguache Counties Drainage Basin: Rio Grande River Basin Water Source: Rio Grande River Project Staff Recommendation The proposed project helps implement a SWSI IPP (Identified Project and Process) and the Rio Grand Basin Roundtable has identified rehabilitation of their reservoirs as an important need. Staff recommends approval of up to $100,000 from the Rio Grande Basin Account to help implement the refinement and enhancement of reservoir reoperation and optimization model contingent on resolution of the item in the issues/additional needs section. Water Activity Summary: AI)I)licant The San Luis Valley Irrigation District (District) is an irrigation district formed and operating pursuant to Title 37, Article 42 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Its office is located in Center. Colorado. The District owns and operates the Farmers Union Canal, which diverts Nvater from the Rio Grande River and delivers it through a network of over 100 miles of ditches to nearly 62,000 acres of land in Alamosa, Rio Grande and Saguache Counties. It also okvns and operates Rio Grande Reservoir located on the headwaters of the Rio Grande River in Hinsdale, Countv, 20 miles southwest of Creede, Colorado. It is the only on-stream main stem reservoir on the Rio Grande in Colorado. The Reservoir's current storage capacity is approximately 54,000 acre-feet, the majority of which is presently used for the storage of irrigation water for use Nvithin the District. Overview of the Water Activity The purpose of this grant application is to fund the enhancement and refinement of the Reservoir Reoperation and Optimization model that was developed as part of the Phase 2 study of the rehabilitation and utilization of Rio Grande Reservoir for multi-use purposes. The District is finalizing its report from Phase 2 of the preliminary study. As part of the Phase 2 study, the District developed a model that provides the ability to analyze potential storage and releases from a rehabilitated Rio Grande Reservoir for various multi-use purposes. The model is designed to allow the user to allocate a portion of Reservoir storage to a particular use, for example Rio Grande Compact (Compact) Storage, and then to analyze a variety of release patterns from that storage account to determine the effect of those various release patterns on streamflows. The model was presented and preliminarily reviewed by the Division Engineer for Water Division No. 3, the President of the Rio Grande Water Users Association, various environmental interests including Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, and the Rio Grande Wetlands Initiative, and at the August Basin Roundtable meeting. The feedback fi-om those meetings and potential stakeholders was that further refinement and enhancement of the model Nvould assist all