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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD <br />823 State Centennial Building <br />1313 Sherman Street <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br /> <br />November 1981 <br /> <br />RIO GRANDE DAM PROJECT <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />The Rio Grande Dam is located on the Rio Grande River about <br /> <br />20 miles southwest of Creede in southwestern Colorado. The dam <br /> <br />is approximately 100 feet in height and the reservoir has a <br /> <br />storage capacity of 52,000 acre-feet. The dam and reservoIr are <br /> <br />owned by the San Luis Valley Irrigation District. <br /> <br />The water stored by these facilities is used primarily for <br />, <br /> <br />irrigatton purposes. However, the dam also provides some flood <br /> <br />protection to the downstream inhabitants. More importantly, <br /> <br />since 1978 the reservoir has been used to store varying amounts <br /> <br />of water for the purpose of assisting Colorado to meet its <br /> <br />obligation under the Rio Grande Compact. Because of the unique <br /> <br />situation of Rio Grande Reservoir (pre-compact construction and <br /> <br />mainstem Rio Grande physical supply of water), the value of this <br /> <br />reservoir to the State of Colorado and the water users of the San <br /> <br />Luis Valley is apparent. There is no other comparable reservoir <br /> <br />on the Rio Grande River in Colorado. <br />