PROJ00518

• Contract/PO #: C153484
• Contractor Name: San Luis Valley Water Conservation District
• Contract Type: Grant
• Water District: 0
• County: Rio Grande
• Bill Number: FSG
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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1975 The Colorado State Engineer proposed rules for administration of ground water

in the Valley.

1981 State Engineer's Office stopped issuing well permits for the Closed Basin

unconfined aquifer.

1983 After a lengthy trial initiated in 1979 on the proposed rules, the Colorado

Supreme Court disapproved rules for massive ground water use curtailment and

remanded the proposed rules to the State Engineer while Compact administration

continued as before.

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1985 Resolutions between San Luis Valley water users resolve much of the conflict

which prompted the 1975 proposed rules.

1985 US Supreme Court dismissed with prejudice the Texas and New Mexico v. Colo.

lawsuit following the spill of Rio Grande Project Storage.

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Since the State Engineer's Office was not allowed to curtail ground water use for

benefit of the Compact, the practice of curtailing surface water rights remains the

cornerstone of Colorado's effort to satisfy the Compact provisions. This

arrangement appears to have been accepted by major water users through resolutions

regarding the Closed Basin Project yield (see Section V).

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The Rio Grande Compact is considered by Colorado's water administrators to be an

obligation the State is committed to satisfy and diversions of Colorado water users

have often been curtailed to satisfy Compact obligations. In the spring of each

year the Division Engineer estimates the annual index flow for each index station

specified in the Compact by adding 1) the year-to-date flow, 2) the flow forecast

for the runoff season, and 3) estimated flows for the months following the runoff

season. The Compact's obligations are then applied to the estimated index flows

to derive the State I s estimated Compact obligation. Even though Colorado is

entitled a 10,000 af credit to the values derived from Compact schedules, this

relatively small portion of the total obligation is not considered by water

administrators until late in the year. By comparing the estimated Compact

obligations with estimated annual flows originating below the index stations, water

administrators derive an estimate of the index flows which must be passed for

benefit of the Compact (termed a "curtailment percentage"). The remaining index

flows (the non-curtailed percentage) are available for distribution under the

priority system to San Luis Valley water users.

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