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;j L~ ~J ~ :1 c.c :1 CJ1 :1 : ~ ,i 'I 1 , 'O! -;1 HISTORY The Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District was created under Colorado Slate Statutes on April 29, 1%8, by the District Court in Pueblo, Colorado. It embraCes approximately 280,600 irrigable acres in 26,150 square miles of Southeastern Colorado, with a population of approximately 400,000 citizens in cities, towns, farms and ranches. The Colorado Statutes provide, among other things, "That property within the District will be benefited by the construction of works and for conserving, developing, acquiring, and stablizing supplies of water for domestic, irrrigation, power, manufacturing, Bnd other beneficial uses", The citizens in the Arkansas VaHey realized long before 1958, that water supply held the key to the future growth and prosperity of their beloved Valley. and as a result of this sincere conviction, petitioned the Court in Pueblo for permission to form 8 Water Con. servancy District. Not only has the District grown in population since its creation, but also in valuation. When formed in 1958, it had an assessed valuation of slightly less than $400,000,000, and on January 1, 1969, the valuation was over 8592,000,000. GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT Colorado Slate Statutes provide the District shall be under the direction of a fifteen man Board of Directors, representing the area covered by the District. The Court Order creating the District ruled that each of the nine Counties in the District would have two appointed Directors, with the. exception that one man would represent that portion of Prowers and Kiowa Counties within the boundaries of the District. Other Counties represented are: Chaffee, Fremont, EI Paso, Pueblo, Otero, Crowley, and Bent. The members of the Board are obligated to carry out not only the provisions of the State Statutes, but also such other agreements and contracts as are entered into in the conduct of'water business in the interest of the present and future citizens within the Conservancy District. ..l d :~ " , :J , -j :1 j :~ , ; ,! MAJOR ACTIVITIES IN 1968 FRYINGPAN . ARKANSAS PROJECT . .r. The Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District is the legal agency for the $235,000,000 Frying- pan-Arkansas Project, authorized by the Congress of the United States on August 6, 1962, and signed into Law on August 16, 1962, by the lale President John F. Kennedy. A contract between the United States Depart- ment of Interior, and the Conservancy District, was entered into on Isnusry 21, 1965, under No. 14-06-700. 4715. '.',.:.. . ~. . .... .' :-.< ",. " ", .. '.~.. .., :: -;.::.~.: ,~:;. '.. '. '- .;.. .':. . .-:. ...,.... .-. " ..," . " ..... ~-.J~, ~~\. , This multi-purpose Project will provide an aver8g~ of 69,200 acre.feet of supplementsl water 10 the Ar- kansas Valley each year, from decrees on the Colorado River, owned by the Conservancy District. Water will be collected under a set of Operating Principles, from tributaries to the Fryingpan River in Western Colorado, diverted Ihrough a tunnel 5.3 miles long and 10,5 feet in diameter, at an elevation of approximately 10,000 feet, and then stored for proper regulation and use in three major reservoirs along the Arkansas River in Eastern Colorado. Construction on the Project was started in 1964, and was originally scheduled to be completed in 1975. It is described in detail in Brochure No.5, which is available at no cost, from the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, 905 Highway 50 West, Pueblo, Colorado 81003_ The Officers of the District work closely with Bureau of Reclamation Officials in charge of the con- struction of the Project, and the District assists in legislative action involving appropriations, in order ~hat the Project construction might remain reasonably on schedule, In 1968. Officials from the Conservancy Dis- trict joined with U.S. Senators Gordon Allott and Peter Dominick, and U.S. Representatives Wayne Aspinall and Frank E. Evans in testifying before several Committees of Congress, to ohtain additional funding for the Project. By assuming legal sponsorship of the Project, the District must be prepared to meet the annual repayment cost including interest from funds derived from the f 'I .-z:;..... \::: ,.:' :-':"':'.' .':-' ~ ;..: .:-.... ...... " .. , ~'. ~. ',...: ~.,. : I ~7:':~.. "'.' (':.'. ~'. , !::.;:. , " ,": ,-I (. .... SUGAR LOAF DAM ANO ROADS View looking southerly down the Arka....a.. V aUey showing the upstream side of the dam with the partially filled reservoir behind it. Suger Loaf Dam is the first stop for water brought through the Divide Tunnel from the collection systems on the Western Slope of the Conti. nental Divide. Here it will be diverted through convey- ance and electrical systems before releasing into the Arkansas River approximately 21 miles downstream. ;....:.. ~...., C-~~~ :'.:,;:.. :',: :c-: .:'.i". ';.--'..':: '.: ~ . .:-.' ".' :.-<:,. .:. ", .. ,::.-,-.,. .. '.. ,.,.' , .~ . ....-F..~ . ',' ,..... .. .. '., .",- "