BOARD00549

• Board Meeting Date: 3/14/1979
• Description: Agenda, Minutes, Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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rises about a foot above its normal bed elevation, we are going to have
to start pumping: some of the water to get it into the river.

One other aspect that I would like to point out that has been a change,
also, from the feasibility report is the salvage of surface water. The
original feasibility report on this particular project anticipated
salvaging about 15,000 acre-feet of water, basically, up in this area
(indicating 3 and 4) from the surface. This particular design and
approach was done, really, prior to our emphasis on the environment and
mainly our emphasis on wetlands, because of the pressure of those two
areas and also because the hydrology of this area has changed in the
sense that the irrigation that is occurring in the area now is more
efficient; they have changed from ditch irrigation and flood irrigation
to sprinklers. And the wet cycle itself, all of these factors have
combined to such a point that there really isn't that much surface water
available for salvaging up in this particular area here (indicating 3
and 4). So our present plans anticipate that we will not salvage any
surface water. We are making no provisions to pick up surface water in
the area. We will only be utilizing groundwater, and all of- the water
will be coming from the wells_ themselves.

One other aspect that I would like to mention is that. one of the fea--
tures that was pointed out in the feasibility report as part of this
particular project was enhancing the recreation and fish and wildlife
values of the San Luis Lake. The original plan calls for a connecting
channel between the main conveyance canal and the San Luis Lake, and
the water would simply be allowed to stablize at whatever elevation it
was in the canal itself. Now, one of the-problems we have run into is
that if-we use that approach the water quality in the San Luis Lake is
going to continue to deteriorate; and unless we do some recirculation or
pumping out of the water of the lake itself, it is simply going to get
to a point that it is saline enough that fishing is not going to be very
good and the recreation uses are going to be marginal.

So our present plans have two features involved. One of them we are
working with the state of Colorado. They are trying to develop a plan
to enhance the area around Head Lake to increase its value to ducks and
geese and then also from a fishing standpoint. And they hope to be able
to do some things up there with that particular area and establish that
into an excellent wildlife area. So what we are going to be doing is
allowing some water to be pumped into Head Lake and allowing it to over-
flow down an existing channel to San Luis Lake. Then, in addition to
that, we will be pumping about 3 or 4 wells directly into the lake
itself. And then to stabilize the water surface that is in San Luis
Lake, we will have a pumping plant located essentially over here in this
portion of the lake (indicating), and we will pump that water out of
the lake back into our conveyance canal. This will allow us to circu-
late water through the lake and maintain an elevation, a stabilized
water surface, and a stabilized water quality within the lake itself.
We think this is going to greatly enhance the recreation and fish and
wildlife values of the San Luis Lake area.

I think that pretty well wraps up where we are. We hope to get a good
construction start this fiscal year yet, before October 1. And if we do,

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