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"c, I ! / I ,'j [) : I J -- , I I ~, I I '-.1 0111202 , '-:'.'.. . I. INTRODUCTION A. Hi story The Bureau of Reclamation is authorized to construct, operate and maintain the Closed Basin Division of the San Luis Valley Project in accordance with Public Law 92-514, 92nd Congress, S. 520, dated October 20, 1972. Supporting studies were conducted under the general authority of the Federal Reclamation Laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto) and under the specific authority of the Interior Appro- priations Act of 1941 (Act of June 18, 1940, ch. 395, 54 Stat 406). B. Location The Closed Basin Division, San Luis Valley Project, is located in southcentral Colorado in A1amosa and Saguache counties (as shown on Plate 1). The division, which hereafter will be referred to as the "project", is named from a topo- graphic basin in the northern portion of the San Luis Valley. The large portion of San Luis Valley north of Alamosa and Monte Vista which does not drain into the Rio Grande, is termed the Closed Basin. The Closed Basin has an internal drainage area of 2,940 square miles and is separated at the southern end from the Rio Grande watershed by a low alluvial divide (containing an apparent water table divide.) Several creeks and Rio Grande irrigation diver- sions drain into the Closed Basin. Ground water in this area is in unconfined and confined (artesian) aquifers which are separated by relatively impermeable confining layers and lenses of clayey sediments. II. Description of Project A. Purpose The primary purpose of the project is to deliver water to the Rio Grande to assist the State of Colorado in meeting its commitments for water deliveries to the States of New Mexico and Texas under the Rio Grande Compact of 1939 and will help the United States meet their commitment to the Republic of Mexico under the Rio Grande Convention of 1906. The project will also provide for (1) deliveries of water to the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). (2) deliveries of water to the Blanca Wildlife Habitat area (3) establishment of the Russell Lakes Manage- ment area (4) stabilization of the water level of San Luis Lake at about 890 surface acres, (5) development of recreational facilities at San Luis Lake, and (6) fish and wildlife enhancement. Total lands within the project boundaries will be about 130,000 acres. B. Project Features The Closed Basin Project consists of a series of 95 to 165 wells, lateral collection system, and a water conveyance channel 42 miles long to carry the water to the Rio Grande. Water provided by the project will come from an unconfined ground water aquifer in the Closed Basin. The ground water to be salvaged is presently being lost through evapotranspiration. 1