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_-_ . � <br />� <br />� <br />WHEREAS, use of the Reservoir for Compact purposes is <br />compatible with use of the Reservoir by the District for storage of <br />its decreed water rights and storage of water exchanged to the <br />Reservoir by owners of direct flow water rights and by the District <br />pursuant to its allotment of the Closed Basin Project yield and <br />other sources; and <br />WHEREAS, the District, on behalf of the water users of the <br />Conejos River system, desires to provide use of the Reservoir for <br />the purpose of maximizing the use of water within the Conejos River <br />system, and to fulfill the requirements imposed on the District by <br />the Colorado General Assembly; and <br />WHEREAS, the District, on behalf of the water users, and the <br />State Er.gineer, desire to fix a procedure for operating the <br />Reservoir for Compact purposes and for the distribution of water <br />that may be stored pursuant to this agreement. <br />NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises above stated, <br />the State Engineer and the District agree as follows: <br />1. The District agrees to provide storage space, for the <br />term and to the extent hereafter provided in the Reservoir to the <br />State of Colorado, acting through the State Enqineer, for waters <br />which otherwise the State Eng' ould cause to be delivered at <br />the Colorado-New Mexico towards the satisfaction of <br />obligations of the State o o'under Article III of the Rio <br />Grande Compact, §37-66-101, C.R. t s placed in storage by the <br />State Engineer pursuant t i. re hereafter referred to <br />as "Compact Waters". <br />2. The State Engineer shall utilize available space in the <br />Reservoir for the purpose of storing waters which would otherwise <br />be delivered during the irrigation season to satisfy the Compact, <br />as a means to minimize over-deliveries from the Conejos River <br />system and so maximize the ultimate volume of water available for <br />use by the Conejos water users. However, nothing in this agreement <br />shall supersede the authority of the United States Army Corps of <br />Engineers to order evacuation of stored water, including Compact <br />Waters, or the storage of water in the Reservoir to provide <br />appropriate flood control measures as outlined in the Flood Control <br />Regulation Manual for the Reservoir. <br />3. Compact Waters shall be held in storage by the District <br />subject to the direction and control of the State Engineer during <br />the year in which such water is stored. The State Engineer may <br />determine in that year that Compact Waters are required for <br />delivery at the Colorado-New Mexico state line in order to meet <br />Colorado's obligations as set forth in Article III of the Rio <br />Grande Compact, or that because the Conejos has underdelivered, it <br />is in the best interest of the Conejos water users to carry that <br />water over in storage to the following year to maximize its <br />2 <br />