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<br />d. Grand Valley Project Water Conservation Study <br /> <br />This study was initiated in fiscal year 1994 in cooperation with the <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board, the CRWCD, Northern Colorado Water <br />Conservancy District, Denver Water, the Service and the Colorado River <br />Recovery Implementation Program. The purpose of the study is to quantify <br />water that can be salvaged from operational waste that is currently diverted <br />by the Grand Valley Project and returned to the Colorado River through <br />project waste ways. Alternative uses for the salvaged water are being <br />identified, and implementation plans are being developed. The plans will <br />include economic, financial and environmental analyses and will identify <br />institutional constraints that need to be addressed. This study has identified <br />about 30,000 acre-feet of water that can be salvaged annually at an annual <br />cost of only $12 per acre-foot. The study will be completed in fiscal year <br />1996. <br /> <br />2. New Mexico <br /> <br />a. San Juan Gallup/Navajo Water Supply Study <br /> <br />This study is providing planning and technical assistance to the Navajo <br />Nation and the City of Gallup, New Mexico to formulate a project to divert <br />water from the San Juan River to augment domestic water supplies of rural <br />Navajo communities on the eastern side of the reservation, the Cities of <br />Gallup, New Mexico, and Window Rock, Arizona. Existing groundwater <br />supplies in the area are inadequate to meet expected future demands. <br /> <br />H. RESERVOIR OPERATIONS <br /> <br />Water year -1 995 signalled the end of dry hydrological conditions in the <br />Basin. Basin-wide precipitation during 1995 was above average and <br />translated into an above-average snowpack. At the beginning of the runoff <br />season, the Basin-wide runoff forecast was 128 percent of average, varying <br />between 114 percent of normal in the Green River Basin to 142 percent of <br />normal in the Colorado River Basin. However, very cold, wet weather <br />dominated late April and May, resulting in very deep snowpacks above the <br />10,000 feet elevation. Hot weather in mid-June produced high runoff peaks <br />and boosted the runoff volume significantly. This produced a well-above- <br />average runoff throughout the Basin. <br /> <br />With the high runoff during 1995, there were numerous reports of local <br />flooding, but most damage was minimal. <br /> <br />58 <br />