WSP02305

• File Number: 8220.106
• Description: Animas-La Plata
• State: CO
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 12/1/1994
• Author: Bookman-Edmonston
• Title: Economic Impact Study - Animas-La Plata and Colorado Ute Water Rights Settlement Act
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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REGIONAL ECONOMY WITHOUT PROJECT

attempted, it is likely that failure to construct ALP would result in litigation concerning the
Tribes' reserved water rights. There exist different options as to whether the litigation
would reach only as far as the reserved water rights for the Animas and La Plata Rivers, or
if failure to construct ALP would jeopardize the entire Settlement Agreement, thereby
litigating the water rights for all claims by the Tribes. For the purposes of this analysis, it
is assumed that failure to construct ALP would only impact the claims on the Animas and
La Plata Rivers and the measure of this impact would correspond to the amount of water
diverted for project purposes by the Tribes from ALP as specified in the Settlement
Agreement and as summarized below in Table 3.3. The question also remains whether both
Tribes would litigate or whether only one Tribe would choose to negotiate and accept
substitute benefits to those described in the Settlement. For purposes of this analysis, it is
assumed that both Tribes would choose to litigate.

TABLE 3.3

Indian Water Supply from ALP
(acre-feet per year)
Ute Mountain Ute Southern Ute Total
Irrigation 27,200 3,400 34,600
M&I 6,000 26,500 32,500
TOTAL 33,200 29,900 63,100

It is unclear through litigation which river, either the Animas or the La Plata, would supply
a like amount of water that would have been delivered through ALP. It is also unclear
what facilities would be necessary for the Tribes to develop this 63,100 acre-feet of water,
particularly because the average annual streamflow for the La Plata River at Hesperus is
only 29,960 acre-feet per year and the La Plata River Compact divides the water between
the states of New Mexico and Colorado on essentially an equal basis. It is assumed that the
Tribes would obtain an 1868 priority date for their claims on these rivers, which would be
senior to nearly all other water rights. For purposes of this discussion, it is fairly assumed
that all of the La Plata River flows would be required to satisfy the Indian claims, and the
remainder of the claims would be supplied from the Animas River. It is also assumed that

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