PROJ00505

• Contract/PO #: C153419
• Contractor Name: San Miguel Water Conservancy District
• Water District: 0
• County: San Miguel
• Bill Number: XB 99-999
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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Implementation of District water rights could yield more water to the

service areas according to our analysis. An operation study was performed to

determine the actual physical and legal yield to District priorities at

diversion locations for the Cone and Gurley collection systems. Actual use of

the rights would require a change in the decreed point of diversion.

Water supply was based on procedures described above in Section 4.3.

Senior decree holders were afforded their share according to recorded historic

diversion patterns and expected intervening flow below the project diversion

points. Senior water right diversion points are shown on straight-line

diagrams which are included in Appendix B. Many senior water rights which are

not associated with one of the major ditch companies show interrupted diversion

histories indicating either non-use, structure failure, or lack of water. Some

divert from small tributaries to the major creeks and would not be affected by

increased diversions on the main stem upstream. Many may actually benefit from

increased return flow caused by greater water application in the ditch company

service areas.

A summary of the expected yields to District water rights is shown as

Table 4.5 (c). Two important assumption should be considered. First,

diversion and conveyance structures would have to be maintained in good

condition to allow capacities as large as recorded maximums (approximately 400

cfs in the Naturita Canal and 100 cfs in the Cone collection ditch). Second, a

small retention reservoir may be required on one of the Beaver Creek Forks to

allow regulation of diurnal fluctuations during the peak runoff season.

Streamflows can fluctuate, as much as 200 or 300 cfs daily during peak runoff.

A detention storage capacity of 200-400 acre-feet would allow peaks on

different creeks to be staggered and encourage operation of the Naturita Canal

at capacity over the entire 24-hour period.

4.6 Water Utilization

Many of the early irrigation rights in the project area have been

incorporated into three main ditch companies. The Farmers Water Development

Company is the largest of the three and operates the Naturita Canal, Gurley

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