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00 O() ,".oj .,.-/ ,7) ":'") 5 while still providing room for new economic development. At the urging of Valley residents, the State Assembly established the Rio Grande Water Con- servation District, The District is a duly constituted entity of local government. Its board consists of members appointed by the commissioners of each Colorado county which contributes water to the Rio Grande (except for Costilla County which chose not to participate). Its job is to promote water resource development within the San Luis Valley, determine water policy, own water, coordinate legal and engineering matters affecting the .c San Luis Valley, and assist in developing projects with the Colorado Water / Conservation Board and the Federal Government. , The District is the primary sponsor of the San Luis Valley Project - Closed Basin Division (Closed Basin Project) which the Bureau is now in the pro- cess of constructing. The Bureau's involvement is not in the nature of a program imposed from lIabove" by the Government. The Bureau acts as an engineering firm pro- viding planning, design, and construction expertise for water projects which would be difficult or impossible for the private sector to accomplish by itself, Typically, Bureau projects are sponsored by local organizations (irrigation districts and/or municipalities). Most of the cost of a pro- ject is repaid directly to the U.S. Treasury by the sponsors and benefi- ciari~J through a long-term repayment contract. However, Valley residents will not have to repay the costs of building the Closed Basin Project directly. This is because one of the needs to which the Project is a response is to provide water to meet a national obligation (the Treaty with Mexico). The District is the Project's local sponsor. The Project is a response to the Valley" s need to develop a reliable source of water which: (1) can serve to keep the Valley unencumbered by downstream lawsuits and (2) be developed without significantly disturbing the existing local pattern of water use. The Project (which is described more fully in the follo\ling section) is designed to achieve a delivery of about 104,000 acre-feet of water annually. The Project is being built in stages over the cour.e of the next 10 year.. Initial deliveries "ill be less than the above amount. Every drop of water delivered to the river will help, however. Each drop "ill provide the Valley with that much more maneuvering room to develop a regu- lar valley-wide system of water allocation \Jhich is fair, recognizes established historic patterns of use, allo"s room for growth, and gers the Valley out of the yearly scramble and uncertainty about meeting the Com- pact. It is important to remember that all the Bureau is responsible for is building the Project (subject to the constraints discussed belo\l) and putting the "ater in the river. What will be done with the water once it gets there and what kind of a Valley-wide system of water allocation might be developed as a result of the Valley having more "ater to work with are not decisions the Bureau is even allo"ed to make. These decisions will be made by the State of Colorado and local San Luis Valley organizations.