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THE ANIMAS-LA PLATA PROJECT Introduction The Animas-La Plata Project would be located in the Upper Colorado Basin in La Plata and Montezuma Counties of southwestern Colorado and in San Juan County of northern New Mexico. The author- ization for construction, opera- tion, and maintenance of the project came under Title V of Public Law 90-537, September 20, 1968, as a participating project of the Colorado River Basin Project Act. Proiect Obiectives The project serves as a multiple purpose water resource development. Municipal and industrial water will be fur- nished to the cities of Durango, Colorado 'and Aztec and Farmington, New Mexico and to surrounding communities and for the develop- ment of resources on the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservations. The project will also provide irrigation water primarily for land in the La Plata River drainage and for some land in the Mancos River drainage. (Please refer to the attached flow diagram.) Oppor- tunities will be made for recrea- tional development and for fish and wildlife enhancement. Proposed Plan The main storage feature of the project will be Ridges Basin Reservoir, located south- west of the city of Durango. The Durango Pumping Plant, south of the city, will pump Animas River water to Ridges Basin Reservoir. Stored water will be released as required back to the Animas River for Aztec, Farmington and other potential municipal and industrial users in New Mexico. Durango and the surrounding com- munities will construct a treatment plant immediately north of the reservoir and will also obtain their additional municipal and industrial water from Ridges Basin Reservoir. In addition to storing Durango's municipal and industrial water, Ridges Basin Reservoir will also provide storage for the Southern Ute and the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribes' industrial and irrigation water and for the Colorado irriga- tors' water. The Ridges Basin Pumping Plant, located on the western edge of the reservoir, will pump water from the reservoir into Dry Side Canal which will then convey the water to the La Plata drainage. The canal will provide most of the water for the La Plata, Colorado and Dry Side areas, some water for New Mexico irrigation, and municipal and indus- trial water for the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes. La Plata River flows could be diverted into the Dry Side Canal when the flows were in excess of the needs in New Mexico. Southern Ute Reservoir will store La Plata River flows diverted into the reservoir through the Southern Ute Diversion Dam and Canal. Southern Ute Reservoir will meet the municipal and industrial water requirements of the Southern Ute Indians and the irrigation requirements of the New Mexico lands. Should not enough La Plata