WSP03745

• File Number: 8111.815
• Description: Arkansas River Compact Administration
• Basin: Arkansas
• Date: 4/1/1990
• Author: UCACOE
• Title: Drought Contingency Plan - John Martin and Trinidad Lake - Appendix D
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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b. John Martin Reservoir. John Martin Dam and Reservoir is owned and
operated by the Corps of Engineers. The reservoir is located on the Arkansas
River at river mile 1159 in Bent County, Colorado, about midway between the
communities of Lamar and Las Animas. It was originally authorized for flood
control and irrigation. A third use, recreation, was added in 1965 by PL 89-298.
The recreation pool has transmountain diversion water purchased by Bent and
Prowers Counties. The Colorado Division of Wildlife has also purchased some
water for the recreation pool and there was one event where the recreation pool
was filled out of the native waters of the Arkansas River. The project is
authorized to store' up to 10,000 acre-feet of recreation water in the flood
control pool, when the conservation pool is full. Storage of irrigation water
in the reservoir is by agreement between the states of Colorado and Kansas as
defined by the Arkansas River Compact. Total irrigation capacity' is 345,520
acre-feet. The irrigation storage was designed to provide a dependable irrigation
water supply based on the period of record 1914-1937. An operation study by the
Colorado State Planning Commission and Colorado Water Conservation Board for the
period of record resulted in shortages occurring in 11 of 23 years of operation
with the severe drought period from 1931 to 1935 accounting for five of those
years. The drought from 1931-1935 is estimated to be the worst experienced
during the period used in the operation study.

c. Trinidad Lake. Trinidad Dam and Lake is also owned and operated by the
Corps of Engineers. It is a multipurpose storage project located on the
Purgatoire River, 3 miles upstream from the city of Trinidad. The Purgatoire
River Basin, above the city of Trinidad, comprises 749 square miles of which 671
square miles are controlled by Trinidad Dam. Trinidad Dam provides flood
protection for the city of Trinidad and agricultural lands downstream. Trinidad
Lake storage allocations are; flood control, 51,000 acre-feet; irrigation, 20,000
acre - feet; joint-use, 39,000 acre - feet; and fish, wildlife, and recreation, 4,500
acre-feet. The joint-use pool is designed for sediment accumulation and is used
for irrigation storage until the pool is filled with sediment. An operation
study, using various reservoir capacities, was used to determine irrigation
shortages. The irrigation storage was designed to provide a dependable supply
based upon an analysis of the period of record 1925-1957. The reservoir with
an average conservation space of 39,500 acre-feet was determined to provide a
full water supply in 13 years and an improved water supply in the remaining 20
years of the 1925-1957 study period.

d. Pueblo Reservoir. Pueblo Dam and Reservoir is located at river mile
1,293.7 on the Arkansas River, approximately six miles upstream from the city
of Pueblo in Pueblo County, Colorado. Pueblo Reservoir is the terminal storage
of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project and was constructed and is operated by the
USBR. The reservoir provides supplemental irrigation water, flood control,
municipal and industrial water. Also, incidental benefits are derived from fish
and wildlife and recreation.

e. Frvingpan-Arkansas Proiect. The Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, built by
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, is a storage and transmountain diversion project,
regulating agricultural water supplies, municipal water supplies, and industrial
water supplies. The project diverts unappropriated water from the western slope
of Colorado for use on the more populated and water short eastern slope. The
average annual diversion is 69,200 acre-feet. There are nine counties that

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