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success or failure by area farmers. Storage water in the Smith Reservoir is approved by the State of Colorado to be used as exchange water between water rights below the reservoir for water delivers to stockholders above the reservoir. Thus the water in the reservoir is extremely valuable to all stockholders of the company. Project Sponsor Trinchera Irrigation Company is a non-profit mutual irrigation company incorporated February 4, 1944. The board of directors consists of five stockholders. The directors are elected for a term of 5 years. One board member is elected at the annual meeting which is held on the second Tuesday of March each year. There are 43 shareholders and 12,500 shares of stock. A total of 12,396 shares are currently issued. A list of the current stockholders is included in appendix J. The TIC has the power to set annual assessments to be paid by the shareholders, the power to cut off water deliveries to shareholders that fail to pay their assessments, and the power to offer stock for sale to pay back assessments. The TIC articles of incorporation and by-laws are included in Appendix B. Project Service Area and Facilities The Trinchera Irrigation Company office is located at 610 Main Street in Blanca, CO. The TIC operates the Smith Reservoir, the Mountain Home Reservoir, approximately 26 miles of canals and 45 miles of laterals for the purpose of managing irrigation water within the district. Robert Schultz, District 35, Division 3 Water Commissioner, states that approximately 26,700 acre feet of water was diverted through the TIC in 2009. This amount fluctuates according to the amount of precipitation received. The service area for TIC is located in Northern Costilla County, Colorado. (Illustrations a and b) TIC is responsible for the delivery of water decreed for irrigation purposes to approximately 100 sprinkler pivots and several thousand acres of flood irrigated land. The total irrigated farm land served by the Trinchera Irrigation Company is approximately 14, 100 acres and has remained relatively stable over the years. The irrigated acreage within the service area is primarily used to grow potatoes, small grains, and alfalfa hay. Hydrology and Water Rights Smith Reservoir takes its supply of water from Trinchera, Sangre de Cristo and Spring Creeks and their tributaries. The water is used for irrigation. It was ordered, adjudged and decreed in District Court in Costilla County on the 4 th day of January 1915 that there be allowed to flow into Smith Reservoir water from Trinchera, Sangre de Cristo, Spring Creeks and their tributaries, for the use and benefit of the Trinchera Irrigation Company lawfully entitled , under Priority No. 95, being Reservoir Appropriation Priority No. 2, not to exceed five thousand (5000) acre feet of water, during the non-irrigating season. A list of water rights is found in Appendix C.