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CWCB Water Project Loan Application Question #5- Narrative Description of Project: For the past twenty years the State has imposed a storage limitation at Continental Reservoir due to dam seepage and spillway conditions deteriorating. Currently Continental Reservoir has been limited to storing only 15,000 acre feet. The Reservoir has a designed capacity of 26, 716 acre feet. The spillway is significantly deteriorated and there is a serious and long - standing seepage problem on the dam. Continuing deterioration and the threatened loss of structural integrity of the dam are causing serious concerns, particularly in flood control, irrigation, and storage of stream depletion. Continental was initially designed in 1911; the dam was redesigned and constructed between May 1925 and December 1928. ` Of the water that is managed by SMRC, nearly ninety percent of the water goes through the Rio Grande Canal, which serves some of the best water rights in the San Luis Valley. The remaining ten percent of the water goes to the Monte Vista Canal also serving high priority water rights. There are 5,400 shares of stock in the Santa Maria Reservoir Company. These shares are owned by approximately 225 stockholders and mostly split into groups of 10 shares. The Continental and Santa Maria Reservoirs are responsible for irrigating nearly 70,000 acres in the San Luis Valley. Continental Reservoir has been used primarily to store irrigation water for agricultural producers spread throughout four counties of the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Continental also stores Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) water, Rio Grande Compact water, San Luis Valley Water Conservancy District water, Trans - mountain water, and water for Subdistrict #1. SMRC recently contracted the URS Corporation to conduct a hydrologic and hydraulic analysis of the two reservoirs and the delivery system which carries water into Santa Maria. SMRC contracted the URS Corporation to conduct engineering studies of the reservoirs and the conveyance system. The studies conducted identified the Continental dam and spillway deficiencies. These studies also identified the best approach to restore full storage capacity by rehabilitating the dam and spillway. The goal of the project is to remove the State- imposed restrictions on storage at Continental by using a two stage filter blanket on the backside face of the dam and installing a new spillway inside the existing spillway. With the storage restriction lifted, this will allow Continental to hold and control additional Rio Grande Compact water, improve SMRC's ability to hold and more effectively manage irrigation water, improve SMRC's flood control capabilities and its ability to respond in times of drought, increase SMRC's ability to serve third parties, and greatly improve and enlarge fisheries, riparian areas, and wildlife habitat. 7