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<br />COMANCHE PEAK WILDERNESS <br /> <br />The Comanche Peak Wilderness is located in the Roosevelt National Forest. This <br />area was designated by Congress as a wilderness by Public Law 96-560 (94 Stat. <br />3265) on December 22, 1980. The area contains 66,901 acres, of which 110 acres <br />are in non-Federal ownership. There are no non-Federal lands above the wilder- <br />ness. <br /> <br />It is estimated that the Comanche Peak Wilderness arid the large area of NFS <br />lands and National Park lands above parts of the wilderness produce an average <br />of 98,200 acre feet of water per year. If entirely utilized, absolute water <br />rights within and above the wilderness would divert and store approxi- mately <br />8,000 acre feet of the water yield. <br /> <br />Within the wilderness, there is 1 absolute right and no decreed conditional <br />rights on Federal lands; and, no absolute rights or decreed conditional rights <br />on non-Federal lands. Above the wilderness on the watershed, there are 6 <br />absolute rights and 3 decreed conditional rights on Federal lands; and no <br />absolute rights or decreed conditional rights on non-Federal land. <br /> <br />The risk of future water developments affecting the water resources of the <br />Comanche Peak Wilderness is minimal. It is not economically feasible to build <br />a small project on the parcel of 110 acres of private land within the wilder- <br />ness and the adjoining 50 acres outside of the wilderness because of the small <br />watershed of less than 2 square miles above the site. A larger project would <br />require the use of wilderness lands, which would require Presidential authori- <br />zation. Any attempt to divert water across the wilderness would require <br />Presidential authorization to implement. An attempt to divert water across NFS <br />lands would require land use authorization from the Forest Service. Further- <br />more, diversion and irrigation on site is not feasible because the overall <br />elevation is about 8,600 feet, making it unsuitable for irrigation and protec- <br />tion of domestic crops. <br /> <br />The following table for the Comanche Peak Wilderness lists the various water <br />rights existing in and where applicable above this wilderness. The various <br />columns identify the names of the Forest, structure and Source of water, <br />location, amount and type of right, dates of appropriation and adjudication, <br />date of designation of the wilderness and the relationship of water rights to <br />land ownership in and above wilderness. <br /> <br />10 <br />