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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 'I I I I significant amount of the plant. The price made expensive alternatives. from the City of Durango. construction cost of the plan nearly as costly At that price, water could a treatment as the more be obtained Condemnation was considered but dropped because (1) the dam, reservoir, and land is worth between $500,000.00 and $1,000,000.00, and (2) the reservoir is filled by La Plata River water rights which cannot be condemned. Concurrently with the discussions for Johnson Reservoir water, discussions were held with an owner of 4.5 CFS of very early priority water rights on the La Plata River. Those discussions showed that he was willing to sell 0.75 CFS of rights with a consumptive use of 122 acre-feet for $250,000.00, which was the approximate estimate in the appraisal evalua- tions. The result is that the La Plata River plan could provide water for about $1.00 per thousand gallons less than Johnson Reservoir and $.50 less than Lightner Creek. The price of the plan makes it the first priority, but it also has the advantage of being able to use ALP water when available. ALP will provide water in the La Plata River by supplying present users below the Dry Side Canal from the canal. This operation will allow increased diversion above the canal because water will not have to be bypassed for New Mexico, which is half of the flow. In this manner, ALP could provide water for additional demands in the Durango West area through the same facilities. Another possibility is that a rural water system will be installed that provides water to the entire area, in which case, the treatment plant would be constructed at or near Hesperus. Durango West could change the pipeline from raw water to treated water and be included in the system. Though unlikely, it is possible that the rural water system could be started in the next few years and Durango West could choose to wait to be included in that system. Based upon the above evaluations, the La Plata River was selected as the best plan on which to prepare this feasibility report. There are several potential problems with the plan, including the transfer of the water rights from irrigation to municipal usage and securing of nearly $1 million in construction funds. Johnson Reservoir still offers a viable option if the owner decides to sell raw water for $1.00 to $1.50 per thousand gallons ($325.00 to $500.00 per acre-foot), but the CWCB would not be involved in the plan because there is no storage or delivery facilities. The remaining chapters of this report describe the details of the La Plata River plan. The fOllowing narrative for each alternative plan describes the facilities, costs, and how each plan would have worked. Maps of the facilities are included where pipelines would be involved. - 15 -