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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />41 <br /> <br />items and works group meetings will be called in the near future. Staff is preparing a "scope of <br />service" on the water availability study. <br /> <br />Rio Grande Basin Issues <br /> <br />RGDSS Status Report: Development of the Rio Grande Decision Support System (RGDSS) is <br />now in the final year of a three-year, $4,960,000 effort. Most of the toois and models for <br />RODSS have been developed or are nearing compietion. <br /> <br />The irrigated iands assessment for the San Luis Valley is complete, and the consumptive use <br />model has been used to estimate historical crop consumptive use. Development of a water <br />budget model is underway; this model will be capable of determining the water budget for a <br />basin or a specific area such as the San Luis valley ground water model. The development of <br />the monthly surface water model is nearly complete; work will begin soon on a daily surface <br />water model. <br /> <br />A total of 15 observation wells have been drilled in the Valley, with several more planned in the <br />near future. Pumping tests have been completed on all but one of these wells, thereby adding <br />valuable hydrogeologic data to the modeling effort. Steady-state calibration of the ground water <br />model has been completed; "average monthly" transient model calibration is underway, with the <br />monthly transient (1950 to 1997) model to follow. <br /> <br />Under a joint funding agreement with the State, the USGS has completed enhancements to their <br />MODFLOW ground water flow model, which is being used in the RGDSS effort. These <br />enhancements concern evapotranspiration from ground water and return flows from drains, both <br />of which are being utilized in the RGDSS ground water model. (The enhancements have been <br />published in USGS Open-File Report 00-466.) Also, the State and their ground water contractor, <br />HRS, have been working with the Rio Grande Water Conservation District and their consultants <br />(David Cooper, David Groeneveld, and Principia Matematica) on improving estimates of native <br />vegetation evapotranspiration from ground water and implementing them in the RGDSS ground <br />water model. <br /> <br />Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project - This multi-objective study ofthe Rio Grande <br />along the 85 river miles from South Fork downstream to the Alamosa-Conejos County line is <br />proceeding on schedule. Technical Memorand\lIll # I, which contained background information <br />on the watershed and the river corridor, was distributed to the Technical Advisory Committee <br />(TAG) in November 2000. It was reviewed by the TAC and finalized by the project consultant, <br />Montgomery-Watson. The material in that memorandum will be incorporated in the fmal project <br />report. <br /> <br />The TAC had its second meeting in February the consultant provided the TAC with technical <br />information regarding the 29 preliminary subrellches into which the study reach has been divided <br />and the ranking system for evaluating which subreaches are most in need or least in need of <br />channei restoration work. The third T AC meeting will be held on March 20. At that meeting the <br />consultant will present the evaluations of each of the subreaches, the rankings of the suhreaches <br />in terms of priority of need for restoration work, discussions of the causes for river stability <br />problems, and preliminary alternative strategies for restoration. The March 20 meeting will <br />represent a major step toward the development of a preferred restoration plan for the study reach <br />of the Rio Grande. The consultant expects to complete the project and present its <br />reconnnendations in July 200 I. <br /> <br />15 <br />