WSP02427

• File Number: 8220.106
• Description: Animas-La Plata
• State: CO
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 6/1/1999
• Author: BOR
• Title: Animas-La Plata Project ‎(Newsletters Vol. 1/2/4/5)‎
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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Who to Contact

If you have questions,
need additional
information, or wish
to be added to the
mailing list contact
Mr Pat Schumacher,
Manager, US Bureau of
Reclamation, Southern
Division of the Western
Colorado Area Office,
835 East 2nd Avenue,
Suite 300, Durango,
Colorado 81301 .

Telephone:
(970) 38S-6500

Fax:
(970) 38S-6539

E-mail:
[e-mail]

Website:
www.uc.usbr.gov

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Summary of Alternatives

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Alternative # 1:
Administration Proposal - In August 1998, the Secre-
ta1)' of the Interior, in coordination with the Council
on Environmental Quality and the Environmental
Protection AgenC)-~ presented an Administration Pro-
posal to provide the Colorado Ute Tribes an assured
water supply in satisfaction of their water rights as
determined by the Colorado Ute Indians Water
Rights Settlement Act of 1988. The Administration
Proposal also allowed for water to be made available
for identified municipal and industrial eM&!) water
needs in the project area. The Administration Pro-
posal, which incorporated concepts developed dur~
ing the Romer-5choettler process, is designed to
satisfy tribal water nghts claims while safeguarding
non-Indian water rights. The proposal includes a
defined number of facilities centering around a
down-sized storage facility limited to M&:I water
uses, Le., an off-stream reservoir at Ridges Basin
with a capacity of approximately 90,000 acre-feet
(aD, a pumping plant, and a reservoir inlet concluit,
all designed to provide for an average yearly deple-
tion of 57.100 af. The depletion is consistent with
the 1996 Biological Opinion issued by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
The Administration Proposal also includes a
non-structural element which would establish and
utilize a $40 million water acquisition fund which
the Colorado Ute Tribes could use to acquire
water rights on a willing buyer/seller basis in an
amount sufficient to allow the Tribes approximate-
ly 13,000 af per year of depletion in addition to
the depletions available from the reservoir.

Alternative #2:
Administration Proposal with Recreation Element
Added - This alternative, added at the request of
the State of Colorado, would satisfy the same
purpose and need and entail the same facilities as
the Administration Proposal. A fishery conserva-
tion pool of approximately 30,000 af would be
added, increasing the overall reservoir size to
approximately 120,000 af, and recreation facili-
ties could also be included to provide for such
activities as camping, boating, picnicking, ete.
The non-structural component of the Administra-
tion Proposal would also apply to this alternative.

Alternative #3:
Ad':1inistration Proposal with San Juan River Basin
Recovery Impiementation Program Added - This
alternative includes the same facilities as the
Administration P~oposal. However, the reservoir
size would be increased to approximately
105,000 af to offset the need to curtail pumping
from the Animas River during selected spring
runoff periods (around June 1) III order to help
achieve flows in the San Juan River as specified
in the flow recommendations for the San Juan
River Basin RecQvery Implementation Program
(SJRBRIP) The non-structural component of the
Administration Proposal would also apply to
this alternative.

Alternative #4:
Administration Proposal with San Juan River Basin
Recovery Implementation Program and Recreation
Elements Added ~ This alternative includes the
same facilities as the Administration Proposal but
also includes the fishery conservation pool ele-
ment of Alternative 2 and the restricted pumping
element of Alternative 3. The total reservoir size
would be approximately 135,000 af

Alternative #5:
Animas - La Plata Reconciliation Plan - This alter-
native represents a structural alternative that was
developed during the Romer-Schoettler process.
Under this plan, the reservoir at Ridges Basin
would have a storage capacity of approximately
260,000 af to allow for future M&:I and irriga-
tion storage needs and a smaller capacity pump-
ing plant.

Alternative #6:
Animas River Citizens' Coalition Conceptual Alter-
native - This alternative represents a non-struc-
tural proposal developed during the
Romer-5choettler process. The plan consists of
two primary elements: 1) the creation of a fund
for the purchase of water rights and lands within
the vicinity of the Southern Ute and Ute Moun-
tain Ute Indian Reservations, and 2) the acquisi-
tion of water available in the future from existing
projects or through expansion of selected exist-