BOARD00484

• Board Meeting Date: 1/24/2001
• Description: CF Section - Referred Non-Reimbursable Investments - Alamosa/La Junta Water Conservancy District - Alamosa River Watershed Restoration Project
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Obiective
To discuss the following questions and make a decision regarding funding for additional .
river restoration and headgate improvements on the Alamosa Ri ver in the amount of
$150,000:

I) Is a river restoration project a flood protection project, subject to the 5% cap?

2) Is the specific river restoration project being undertaken on the Alamosa River a
flood protection project?

3) How does the work proposed for the $150,000 request relate to the work being
perfonned with the $300,000 already awarded?

4) .If the Board approves this funding request, are there likely to be future requests
for more funding for additional restoration work on the Alamosa-River?

Discussion
The above questions were raised by Board members at the January 4, 2001 Finance
Committee meeting. Some of them will need to be discussed in greater detail at the July
2001 Board meeting, during the long-range planning session. They are presented here to
provide a background for the Board's specific decision about funding $150,000 of river
restoration and inigation structure improvements on the Alamosa River.

It should be noted that the general issue of river restoration was discussed at virtually all .
of the Board's recent basin meetings. While flood protection may be an objective of
some restoration projects in Colorado, it is not always the primary objecti ve of such
projects. Sometimes it is not an objective at all. Improvement in the functioning of
irrigation facilities, improvement of habitat. provision of recreation and open space, water
quality improvement, and reduction of erosion and channel migration are all purposes
that have been pursued by river restoration activities. An appropriate answer to the
question of river restoration projects being flood protection projects is, "It depends on the
specific river reach and 9n the specific project?" .

In the case of the Alamosa River, the primary purposes of the restoration work are:

1. to allow proper functioning of the river channel and the associated inigation
structures,
2. to reduce damage to adjacent lands due to channelerosion and lowering of the
water table and to prevent similar damage in the future,
3. to provide viable vegetative and wildlife habitat in the river and its adjacent
riparian conidor,
4. to improve water quality downstream of Terrace Reservoir, and
5. to return the Alamasa River to viability in a physical, chemical and
biological sense.

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