PROJ00159

• Contract/PO #: C153305
• Contractor Name: Dolores Water Conservancy District
• Water District: 0
• County: Dolores
• Bill Number: XB 99-999
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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CHAPTER IV
WATER

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A. WATER REQUIREMENTS

In order to forecast future water demands for the area, reasonable estimates were

made of both the population to be served and the daily per capita consumption rate.

The following sections describe information analyzed in formulating these estimates.

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population Projections

A number of studies conducted during the past 7 years have included population

projections for the Dolores Water Conservancy District service area, While these

studies have looked at Dolores County and Towaoc, their primary emphasis has been

on the Cortez area and Montezuma County, where the bulk of the present population

is concentrated and where the greatest population expansion is anticipated.

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Population projections were arrived at by compiling and analyzing all of the pre-

vious studies Cl/, ~/, ii, 21, ~/, ii, lQI, lll, lll) and utilizing the joint

intuitive abilities and best judgement of the Treatment Plant Advisory Committee

and the Board of Directors for the Dolores Water Conservancy District. The

population forecast in this feasibility study is the joint consensus of the

advisory committee, the district board of directors and the engineering team.

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Too many uncertainties about the impact of the Dolores River project and energy

development in the service area prevent us from predicting the population of the

district with any specific degree of accuracy beyond 1985. Therefore, staging of

the proposed treatment plant should be based on the population growth actually

experienced rather than following a particular chronological time table. However,

for purposes of this feasibility study, "a best guess" of the staging sequences

has been made in order to develop the financial feasibility for the required 20-year

design life following first delivery of water from the Dolores Project. The best

estimate of the Bureau of Reclamation is that water will be available from the

project in the summer of 1984, Our study is therefore carried to the year 2004.

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