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water of the Rio CJrande and its tributaries for beneficial use and the construction oi'reservoirs, <br />ditches, and works for such purposes are of vital importance to the g,ruwth and deve,lopment of <br />the entire area anci the welfare of all its inhabitants ...." § 37-48-10 1, -102, 10 C.R.S. (2003). <br />The General Asse:mbly further declared that to promote the health an(i general welfare of the <br />state of Colorado, an appropriate agency for the conservation, use, and development of the water <br />resources of the F:io Grande and its tributaries should be established "and given suc;h powers as <br />may be necessar), 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, Eunong other <br />things, "to do anci perform all acts and things necessary or advisable to secure and insure an <br />adequate supply af water, present and future, for irrigation, mining, manufaeturing;, 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 b}, Congress, wl.uch was <br />constructed, in part, to assist Colorado in meeting its obligations under the Rio Gr,3nde Compact. <br />See Closed Basin Landowners Ass'n v. Rio Grande Water Conservution Dist., 734 P.Zd 627, <br />629 (Colo. 1987). In accordance with its statutory powers, the Rio (Jrande Distric:t has sought to <br />safeguard the waters of the Rio Grande apportioned for beneficial u:se in ColoradC. <br />2. The Southwestern Water Conservation District ("Southwestern District") was <br />created in 1941 based on a legislative declaration that "the conservation of the water of the San <br />Juan and Dolore:s rivers and their tributaries for storage, irrigation, rnining, and manufacturing <br />purposes and thi: construction of zeservoirs, ditches, and works for the purpose of'irrigation and <br />reclamation of e.dditional lands not yet imgated, as well as to fumi.sh a supplemental supply of <br />water for lands :zow under irrigation, is of vital importance to the growth and development of the <br />entire district arid the welfare of all its inhabitants ...." § 37-47-101, -103, 10 C.R.S. (2003).