BOARD01638

• Board Meeting Date: 1/27/1999
• Description: CF Section - STTFOA
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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MARvEL SPRING WATER METERING AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS I,

Applicant;

La Plata Water Conservancy District
c/o James R. Isgar. District Board Member
11190C.R.141
Hesperus, CO 81301
[phone]

The La Plata Water Conservancy District (the "District") requests a grant of $20,000 from the
Colorado Water Conservation Board ("CWCB") to purchase and install equipment necessary for
metering and controlling water usage at the "Marvel Spring."

Backlrround

Marvel Spring is a developed spring located near Marvel, Colorado v.ithin the boundaries of the
District. People in the community use it heavily as a primary source of non-potable domestic water.
It is also used for stock watering, crop spraying and, by the local fire department, to fill fire trucks.
The District does not know the exact number of people using the Spring, but estimates the number
to be in the hundreds. As many as half the people in the area use the Spring to some degree.

Marvel Spring has been used since the early part of the century. A group of local people
improved it in the fifties. They poured a concrete tank and installed a pump. Around 1970, La Plata
County acquired the Spring and 1/4 acre ofland around the Spring. Since then the County has paid
for the electricity and the Marvel Grange has provided for the maintenance of the pump and
plumbing. Individuals have contributed money for the upkeep of the Spring from time to time.

In 1997, La Plata County deeded the Spring and the 1/4 acre ofland to the District. The District
agreed to take over the Spring because of its importance to the community and the desire by the
District Board of Directors that the Spring remain operational.

When the District acquired the Spring, however, the District also acquired some problems,
including the fact that the Spring had no water right recognized by the State of Colorado. The Water
Division Engineer, Water Division 7, infonned the District Board that if anyone with a water right
. on the La Plata were to complain thatthe Spring was causing injury to their water rights, the Division
Engineer had the authority to close the Spring. The District Board, therefore, applied for both a
water right for the Spring and a plan for augmentation. The "Proposed Decree" in that matter
requires the Board to provide two shares of stock in the Red Mesa Ward Reservoir and Ditch
Company to be used for augmentation. The Proposed Decree also requires the Spring to be metered
and restricts the use of water taken from the Spring to v.ithin the La Plata River drainage. If the
usage of the Spring exceeds original estimates, the District will need to acquire additional Red Mesa
Ward Reservoir shares for augmentation.

The District Board of Directors cannot now identifY the Water users of the Spring, detennine how
much water they are using or specify where the water is being used. This infonnation is needed to