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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Average Consumption:

In establishing per capita water usage for the Dolores Water Conservancy District,

a reasonable approach must be followed taking into account historic records as

well as the need for conservation. The district includes a wide variety of social

and economic classes of development. Within the district, the character of the

water user varies from that of a tourist-agricultural based community like Cortez

to the rural farms and ranches. As past studies have indicated, there is a large

disparity between rural users and city dwellers in the amount of water consumed.

This phenomenon will tend to be equalized with the projected growth and future

development of reliable water systems in the rural areas. Based on this asaumption,

a single per capita water consumption rate may be established for the entire district.

It should be noted that the per capita usage rate includes all municipal, domestic,

and industrial requirements, as well as the demand from tourists in the area.

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A report prepared by Morcan Engineering Company for the Colorado Water Conservation

Board,~/ indicates that water usage is increasing at an alarming rate. Based on

the experience of the City of Cortez, the consumption rate is expected to increase

to a level of 400 gallons per person per day after the year 1995. This unusually

high rate of increase in consumption may be attributed to deteriorating water mains

within the city system, a greater number of tourists in the area, and increased

lawn sprinkling in the semi-arid climate. Continued increases from these factors

will generally stabilize as the district grows, and undetected leakage is reduced in

the interest of conserving water.

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The more recent report by the Bureau of Reclamation 2/ projected a water consumption

rate for the service area along the Cortez-Towaoc Pipeline of 325 gallons per person

per day after the year 1995. The bureau's estimate is based upon similar water use

trends in Farmington, New Mexico, assuming that future development of the Cortez

area will parallel this community's evolution. Between the years of 1968 and 1973,

Farmington's consumptive rate was 325 gallons per person per day.

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The bureau report also compared future usage in the Cortez area with consumption

rates in Durango, Colorado. These cities are economically as well as geographically

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