WSP00220

• File Number: 8220.106
• Description: Animas-La Plata
• State: CO
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 10/1/1996
• Author: Water Information Pr
• Title: Water Letter
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

(CRSP continued from page I)
Several major agreements set the stage for the Colorado River
Storage Project Act of 1956. After complex negotiations
over nearly a decade, the Colorado River Compact was en-
acted in 1922. Six of the 7 states signed off, with Arizona
finally ratifying the Compact nearly 22 years later. Clearly
the water disputes over the Colorado have been intense and
protracted, but in the end the law of the River has been forged
between the states. Prior to this agreement, projects such as
Boulder Dam were delayed due to disagreements between
the upper and lower Basin states.

By the mid 1940's, most of the water development on the
Colorado River occurred in the lower Basin states. The
upper Basin states, including Colorado and New Mexico
began to recognize the threat of lower Basin states, particu-
larly California, developing and possibly using more than
their Colorado Compact allocations. In etfeet, the "surplus
water" that was not developed and stored by the upper Basin
states flowed freely to the lower Basin.
However, the US Bureau of Reclamation de-
termined that no further water storage
projects that required Federal funds could
be built in the upper Colorado River Basin,
until those states resolved the division of the
Colorado River Basin waters that would be
apportioned to each state. In 1946 the up-
per Basin states convened meetings to de-
termine the apportionment of the waters of
the upper Colorado River basin, as defined
by the 1922 Colorado Compact. By 1948,
the states of Colorado, Wyoming, New
Mexico, and Utah came to an agreement to
divide the waters on a percentage basis, with
Colorado receiving 51.75%, Utah 23%, Wyoming 14% and
New Mexico 11.25%. Since a small portion of northeastern
Arizona lies within the San Juan Basin (which is in the upper
Basin region), the state of Arizona received 50,000 acre feet.
Now that the states agreed to the water apportionment, it
was an appropriate time to develop those resources.

Most of these CRSP reservoirs generated hydro-electric power.
This resource of electrical power is managed by the Western
Area Power Association (WAPA), and is dispatched from the
WAPA Power Operations Center in Montrose, CO. Power
revenues from various CRSP water projects go into the Upper
Colorado River Basin Fund.

As the Colorado River Storage Project (1956) was developed,
one of the guiding principles was to use the power revenues to
assist in the funding of irrigation. An historical background
for the use of power revenues for funding water storage projects
is appropriate. The US Congress created the US Bureau of
Reclamation in 1902. By 1911, the Salt River Project in
Arizona, with Roosevelt Dam as a primary feature, was com-
pleted. Previously, in 1906, Congress gave authority to the
US Bureau of Reclamation to lease surplus project power and
credit the money to the project that produced the power.

When Congress enacted the Reclamation
Project Act of 1939, its purpose was to
lessen the fiscal impact on the water users
for the repayment contracts, by using hy-
dro-electric power revenues to repay a por-
tion of the cost of the water storage
project(s). Irrigators would repay based on
their ability to pay, with project power rev-
enues picking up the balance of the repay-
ment contracts. By 1944, this concept was
expanded into a basin wide accounting of
all power revenues from USBR funded
water projects. When the Colorado River
Storage Project act was passed by Congress
in 1956, it created a water development
fund for Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah, Water
development would be financed by many sources, including
hydro-electric power revenues, irrigators (based on ability to
pay), municipal & industrial water users and ad valorem taxes
from conservancy districts.

By the early 1950's, most of the major water storage projects
in the lower Basin were already in place, but the upper Basin
states had not developed their water resources. Elected to
Congress in 1948, Congressman Wayne Aspinall, who was
ti.om Palisade, Colorado, became a long time member of the
Colorado congressional delegation, and eventually rose to
become the chairman of the House Interior Committee (now
called the Natural Resources Committee).

From his vantage point as a western Coloradoan, who was
very well versed in Colorado water history and the benefits
of irrigated lands, Mr. Aspinall lead the efforts to get the
Colorado River Storage Project Act (CRSP) enacted. One
of the key provisions in the CRSP was to have surplus power
revenues go into Upper Colorado River Basin Fund to fi-
nance participating projects in the upper Colorado Basin.
The major CRSP projects included: Glen Canyon, Flaming
Gorge, Navajo and Blue Mesa water reservoirs.

Initial discnssions and planning for a water reservoir in the
Animas River Basin occurred in the early 1900's, One of the
first compacts between the states was the La Plata River Com-
pact between New Mexico and Colorado in 1922. A certain
amount of river flow was agreed to at the the ColoradolNew
Mexico state line. After this agreement was made, some of
the irrigators in the Colorado had to reduce their irrigated lands
in order to meet the La Plata River compact obligations. As
time went on, the irrigators from the La Plata, water users on
the Animas and municipal users in northwest New Mexico com-
bined their water storage needs into the Animas/La Plata
Project. While studied and researched since the advent of the
US Bureau of Reclamation, the Animas/La Plata Water Project
was authorized by Congress in 1968, and was included as a
beneficiary project in the CRSP "authorized" project list.

As an 'authorized' CRSP project, the A-LP will be able to use
hydro power revenues from the Upper Basin fund to offset costs
of construction of the water project.
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