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may be necessary to safeguard for Colorado all waters to which the state of Colorado is equitably <br />entitled." § 37-48-101, 10 C.R.S. (2003). The Rio Grande District is authorized, among other <br />things, "to do and perform all acts and things necessary or advisable to secure and insure an <br />adequate supply of water, present and future, for imgation, mining, manufacturing, and domestic <br />purposes within [the] district." § 37-48-105(1)(d), 10 C.R.S. (2003). It is the local sponsor of <br />the Closed Basin Project, a federal reclamation project authorized by Congress, which was <br />constructed, in part, to assist Colorado in meeting its obligations under the Rio Grande Compact. <br />See Closed Basin Landowners Ass'n v. Rio Grande Water Conservation Dist., 734 P.2d 627, 629 <br />(Colo. 1987). In accordance with its statutory powers, the Rio Grande District has sought to <br />safeguard the waters of the Rio Grande apportioned for beneficial use in Colorado. <br />The Southwestern Water Conservation District ("Southwestern District") was created in <br />1941 based on a legislative declaration that "the conservation of the water of the San Juan and <br />Dolores rivers and their tributaries for storage, irrigation; mining, and manufacturing purposes <br />and the construction of reservoirs, ditches, and works for the purpose of irrigatzon and <br />reclamation of additional lands not yet irrigated, as well as to furnish a supplemental supply of <br />water for lands now under irrigation, is of vital importance to the growth and development of the <br />entire district and the welfare of all its inhabitants...." § 37-47-101, -103, 10 C.R.S. (2003). <br />The General Assembly further declared that "to promote the health and general welfare of the <br />state of Colorado, an appropriate agency for the conservation, use, and development of the water <br />resources of the San Juan and Dolores rivers and their principal tributaries should be established <br />and given such powers as may be necessary to safeguard for Colorado, all waters to which the <br />state of Colorado is equitably entitled." § 37-47-101, 10 C.R.S. (2003). The Southwestern <br />3