WSP01284 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

SUMMARY SHEETS Dolores Project LOCATION Montezuma and Dolores Counties of southwestern Colorado in the Upper Colorado River Basin. PLAN The Dolores Project would develop water from the Dolores River for irri- gation, municipal and industrial use, power production, recreation, and fish and wildlife. It would also provide flood control and cultural re- sources mitigation and would aid in area economic redevelopment. Service would be provided to the Dove Creek and Montezuma Valley areas in the Dolores Water Conservancy District and the Towaoc area, a part of the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation. Primary storage for all project purposes would be provided by McPhee Reservoir on the Dolores River. Secondary storage for municipal and in- dustrial water would be provided by Monument Creek Reservoir which would receive water diverted from McPhee Reservoir. Dawson Draw Reservoir would be constructed specifically for fish and wildlife and would be supplied primarily from irrigation return flows. Irrigation water would be provided for full service land in the Dove Creek and Towaoc areas and for supplemental service land in the Montezuma Valley area. Water for the Dove Creek area would be pumped from McPhee Reservoir by the Great Cut Pumping Plant and conveyed through the Dove Creek Canal and its branch, the South Canal. Water for the Towaoc area would be conveyed from the reservoir in the Dolores Tunnel and the Dolores and Towaoc Canals. Buried pipe lateral systems would distrib- ute the water to farms in both the Dove Creek and Towaoc areas. The Montezuma Valley area would be served by the Dolores Tunnel and Canal and an existing gravity distribution system. Municipal and industrial water supplies for Cortez and Towaoc would be stored in McPhee Reservoir and delivered to the towns by the Dolores Tunnel and Canal and the Cortez-Towaoc Pipeline. Supplies for Dove Creek and surrounding rural areas would be conveyed in the Dove Creek Canal and reregulated in Monument Creek Reservoir. The water users would be responsible for any required treatment and distribution facilities. Powerplants would be located on McPhee Dam and the Towaoc Canal to generate power that would enter the Colorado River Storage Project power transmission system. The McPhee Dam facility would operate year-round on fishery releases from McPhee Reservoir, while the Towaoc Canal Plant would operate from April to October on the irrigation water supply con- veyed through the canal.