BOARD01228

• Board Meeting Date: 7/13/1998
• Description: CF Section - Feasibility Studies - Dolores Water Conservancy District
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
721 Centennial Building
1313 Sherman Street
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: (303) 866,4474

STATE OF COLORADO

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MEMOlUNDUM

Roy Romer
Governor

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

James S. Lochhead
Executive Director, ONR

Oaries Clile, P.E.
Director, ewea

PeterH. Evans
Acting Direclor, CWCB

FROM:

Bill Stanton and John Van Sciver

DATE: July 6, 1998

SUBJECT: Agenda Item 17a. July 13-14, 1998, Board Meeting--
Dolores Water Conservancy District

Introduction
The Dolores Water Conservancy District is requesting a loan of $105,000, and a grant of
$]0,000 for a feasibility study to investigate dt:velopment of additional water supplies. Staff is
also recommending the Guidelines be revised h) allow the CWCB more flexibility in setting the
amount for feasibility study loans.

Backl!round
The Dolores Water Conservancy District (District) is located in Montezuma and Dolores
Counties, in southwestern Colorado. The District serves approximately 28,000 acres of full
service irrigation, approximately 35,000 acres ()f supplemental service irrigation, 7,500 acres of
Ute Mountain Indian irrigation, and about 10,000 people. See attached map of District facilities,

The District has been considering development of additional water supplies for some time, In
1983 the District obtained a CWCB authorization under HB 83-1102, in amount of $7 million.
Because of changing economic conditions, only $1.4 million of the proposed project was
completed, and the remaining $5.6 million was deauthorized. The District was invited to develop
a new project, and to reapply for a CWCB loan. The proposed feasibility study is part of that
reapplication process. The estimated total cost of the feasibility study is $150,000, The District
would pay its portion of the cost out of cash reserves,

The proposed study will investigate supplying water for uses that the project is NOT currently
able to satisfy, either because of an inadequate water supply or lack of delivery facilities.
These water uses include, but not limited to: (1) irrigation of farm lands adjacent to the
Dolores Project lands which cannot be served due to insufficient water supply and the lack of
distribution pipelines to deliver water to the land, (2) increased water for the fishery below
McPhee Dam which could not be supplied due to an insufficient water supply, and (3)
additional municipal water demands upstream of McPhee Dam and in San Juan County, Utah
for which there is a water supply but no facilities to deliver the water. The feasibility study
will investigate alternatives and select a plan to meet as many of these needs as possible within
the financial constraints.