WSP01548

• File Number: 8220.106
• Description: Animas-La Plata
• State: CO
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 7/1/1987
• Author: EPI
• Title: An Analysis of the Animas-La Plata Project - Durango-Colorado - July 1987
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

Without irrigation, sparse grassland and shrubland on the
Ute Mountain ute Reservation is suitable only for a small
amount of cattle grazing.

According to the EIS, the Indian full service land would
require extensive clearing, field layouts, selective fencing
and access roads before irrigated agriculture could occur.
According to the Definite Plan Report, the Ute Mountain
Ute Tribe has plans to irrigate about 7,500 acres of
land west of the project area as a result of the Bureau
of Reclamation's Dolores project, which is now under
construction. .

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In order to deliver the water for irrigation, lateral
systems with 197.9 miles of buried pipe would be constructed
for the project (this was before the project was divided
into Phase I and II) in order to deliver the water to
project lands. This pipe would either be asbestos cement or
reinforced concrete.

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since the original documents were prepared on the project,
the u.s. Congress has passed the 1982 Reclamation Reform
Act, which changes the acreage limitations on project
beneficiaries who plan on receiving Federal irrigation
water. In the absence ofa new analysis of the project
area, it is difficult to ascertain how this will affect
agricultural interests in the project area.

Under the plans of the project authorization, water was to
be delivered to privately owned farms of 175 to 198 acres
in single ownership and 350 to 395 acres in joint ownership.
At the present time, between 82 and 92 owners have land in
excess of the limits for single ownership, and 51 of the
owners also have land in excess of the limits for joint
ownership before the 1982 changes in law . A total of about
10,350 acres, or 15 percent of the privately owned project
land, is in excess ownership. The owners of these lands
would have to dispose of the excess acreage before receiving
project water or sign contracts with the United states
agreeing to dispose of the land within 10 years after
receiving project water, or they could retain their excess
land and not receive project water for the excess land.

In addition, it is impossible to report exactly how many of
these farmers have participated in the set aside programs
of the 1985 Food Security Act. The Soil Conservation service
has to go through the lengthy process of determining the
farmers that qualify. A source from the SCS expects that
at least 75% of the farmers from that area will qualify for
the farm subsidies from this program of the Department of
Agriculture.

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