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, I klIMAS-LA PLATA PROJLCT Sununary Statement The Animas-La Plata Proj ect, located in Southwestern Colorado and .iorth- western New Mexico, was authorized by Congress in Septe~ber 1968 as a part o~ the Colorado River Basin Project Act, P.L. 90-537. It would develop the ~lows o~ the Animas and La Plata Rivers ~or municipal, indus- trial. irrigation, recreation. and ~ish and wildli~e purposes. It would provide development o~ Indian resources and aid in the economic re- development o~ an area now characterized by high unenployment and de.. pressed personal incomes. The project as authorized would ~Ake 76,200 acre-~eet o~ water available for municipal., domestic and industrial use at the cOliJ1nunities and areas surrounding Durango, 'Jolorado and Aztec, Farmington and Shiprock, New :.!exico. It would develop lB8,900 acre-feet o~ irrigation water to pro- vide supplemental service to 25.600 acres o~ land that now have an in- su~~icient supply and full service to 46,520 acres o~ land that are now largely dry ~armed. " ,J: Included in the above ~igures are 53,500 acre-~eet o~ industrial water and 26,500 acre-~eet o~ irrigation water identified for the development o~ resources belonging to the Southern Ute and Ute flounta1n Ute Indian Tribes. The plan included ~ive storage reservoirs which would be developed to provide new recreational opportunities and fish and wildlife enhancewent. Advance planning studies, initiated in fiscal year 1971, indicate that the project plan can be reformulated to include; (1) the production of hydroelectric power, (2) an increase in water for municipal and industria.l uses, (3) a decrease in water ~or full service irrigation o~ virgin lands, (4) a decrease in salt contribution to the Colorado River, (5) a sub- stantial increase in recreation and ~ish and wildli~e values, (6) a reduction in environmental impacts, (7) an underground water distribution system making possible sprinkler methods o~ irrigation and (8) a solution to critical social and econoL1ic problems, that would otherwise result from the establishment of Indian water rights in Southwestern Colorado. All these revisions tend to make the project more nea.rly mee~ local needs and at thp. S8.1Il.e t.imE> AJlhpT~ 1".() nn+.i.onnl llr:tor,ttiea. , ! . .~~ ~j ;-"--, ~t~_ ,~ "'" 'S I , .~ i'