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<br />Alternative in Column 4 - This alternative would not use the Lower Animas <br /> <br />Canal. The water that had been conveyed by this canal in other alterna- <br /> <br />tives would now be pumped through Ridges Basin Reservoir. By not using <br /> <br />the Lower Animas Canal, several other changes can be made. Three <br /> <br />Buttes Reservoir could replace the Southern Ute Reservoir site and provide <br /> <br />the needed storage for the Southern Ute M&I water and New Mexico irrigators' <br /> <br />water. Three Buttes Reservoir could be used to store La Plata River flows, <br /> <br />thus, making both Hay Gulch and Parrot Reservoirs unnecessary. <br /> <br />A small offstream reservoir, Big Stick Reservoir, would provide a full <br /> <br />water supply to the 6,000 acres north of Ridges Basin Canal and furnish <br />, . <br /> <br />M&I water for the La Plata area. This alternative may be seen in the <br /> <br />map on the following page. <br /> <br />About 1,600 acres of Southern Ute Indian lands in the McDermott area, <br /> <br />near the Southern Ute Reservo~te, could no longer be economically <br /> <br />provided irrigation water. This exclusion is the only change in project <br /> <br />acreage. All project lands would be sprinkler irrigated. <br /> <br />With this plan, the Animas Powerplant would produce about 50 percent <br /> <br />of the project power requirements instead of 65 percent in the other. <br /> <br />plans. If the Southern Ute Tribe M&I were increased from 20,000 to <br /> <br />55,000 acre-feet, this alternative would not be practical because of the <br /> <br />large increase in pumping costs. <br />