Animas-La PLata Project Environmental Impact Statement

CHAPTERI
INTRODUCTION, PURPOSE OF, AND NEED FOR THE PROJECT
❑ Establish a water acquisition fund that could be used by the Colorado Ute Tribes for a variety of
economic development purposes, including the acquisition of existing water rights. The water
supply from the facility at Ridges Basin, coupled with the water acquisition fund and its potential
for securing additional water rights for the Colorado Ute Tribes, would satisfy all outstanding
Colorado Ute Tribal water rights claims on the Animas and La Plata rivers.
❑ Comply with all applicable laws, including ESA and NEPA, and comply with the Service's
determination that depletions from the San Juan River Basin cannot exceed an average 5 7, 100
afy as outlined in the 1996 Biological Opinion for the ALP Project. Depletion limitations also
assist in protecting the interests of downstream tribes and others with substantial water rights
claims.
Table 1 -2 displays the allocation of water among the Colorado Ute Tribes and other project beneficiaries
that would be provided by the structural components of the Administration Proposal. Under the
allocations shown below, the Colorado Ute Tribes are still approximately 13,000 afy short of the total
quantity of depletion recognized in the Settlement Agreement. The Administration Proposal, therefore,
also includes a non - structural element that would establish and utilize a water acquisition fund, which the
Colorado Ute Tribes could use over time to acquire water rights on a willing buyer /willing seller basis.
The water acquisition fund was developed to acquire 13,000 afy of depletion in addition to the depletions
shown in Table 1 -2, or for other uses that they may choose.
Table 1 -2
Administration Proposal Water Allocations for the Structural Components of the ALP Project
Water Recipient
Depletion from the San Juan River Basin (afy)
Southern Ute Indian Tribe
19,980
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
19,980
Navajo Nation
2,340
Animas -La Plata Water Conservancy District
2,600
San Juan Water Commission
10,400
Subtotal
55,300
Allowance for Reservoir Evaporation
1,800
Total Depletion
57,100
Because of the importance of the 57,100 afy average annual depletion as allowed under the Section 7
Biological Opinion for the ALP Project, depletion values are generally displayed throughout the report.
It is a general practice to use a depletion factor of 50 percent for M &I water use (50 percent of the water
diverted from a river system for an M &I use is returned back to the river system as a return flow).
Depending on how the water is used, the depletion factor can vary. The depletion factor for municipal
and domestic uses generally average somewhat less than 50 percent and the depletion factor for industrial
uses generally average somewhat more than 50 percent. See Section 2.1.1.3.1 for additional information
on depletion factor.
IPreliminary cost estimates indicate that a fund of $40 million would be provided as a settlement amount
(water acquisition fund) to the Colorado Ute Tribes to be used on a discretionary basis to purchase land
1.2 PROJECT HISTORY 1 -8