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<br />mostly of snowmelt from the mountains, flows are inadequate during the late summer when <br />snowmelt has diminished and irrigation requirements are greatest. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />Investigations by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) for the San Miguel Project were first <br /> <br /> <br />begun in the 1950's and published in a 1966 Feasibility Report and in a 1982 Planning Report. <br /> <br /> <br />The San Miguel Project was one of the projects authorized for construction in the Colorado <br /> <br /> <br />River Basin Project Act of September 30, 1968 (Public Law 90-537). The 1982 report <br /> <br /> <br />concluded, however, that a San Miguel Project, as proposed at that time, was not economically <br /> <br /> <br />feasible. <br /> <br />Most of the alternatives studied by the USBR involved mainstem reservoirs on the San Miguel <br />River to provide both irrigation and M & I water supplies. It was the desire of the study <br />participants and the CWCB to consider smaller, less expensive project configurations which did <br />not require mainstem reservoirs. <br /> <br />A preliminary reconnaissance study was completed in 1985 under the sponsorship of the <br />CWCS, the SMWCD and the Southwest Water Conservation District. This study, referred to as <br />the Rescoping Study, recommended a program of structural improvements and expansions to <br />the three major irrigation systems in the study area at an estimated cost of $16.8 million. <br /> <br />In January 1985, the SMWCD made application to the CWCS for partial funding for the project. <br /> <br /> <br />The CWCB recommended authorization of the project to the Colorado General Assembly which <br /> <br /> <br />authorized it in HB 1042 of the 1985 session. HB 1042 requires, however, that the CWCS must <br /> <br /> <br />determine that the San Miguel Project is technically and financially feasible before loaning any <br /> <br />3 <br />