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<br />, <br /> <br />onnag~ <br />8 WATER SUPPLY FOR THE SAN JUAN-.CHAMA PROJECT <br /> <br /> <br />Navajo ,:Reservoir will have a total storage capacity of 1,700,000 <br />acre-feet, of 'which 672,000 acre-feet will be dead storage below the <br />contemplated diversion level of the main canal of the Navajo Indian <br />irrigation project. The live storage capacity for the regulation of the <br />streamflows will be 1,028,000 acre-feet initially. Future sediment <br />deposition is expected to reduce the live storage capacity to 960,000 <br />acre-feet. <br /> <br />Bureau oj Reclamation. studies <br />. The Bureau's hydrologic studies of the San Juan Basin indicate <br />that, with the storage for regulation available in the Navajo Reser- <br />voir, water will be available to meet the demands for the initial stage <br />of the San JuancChama project and the Navajo Indian irrigation <br />project with no shortages. The study indicates spills from the <br />reservoir averaging 215,000 acre-feet annually, which are an indication <br />of the amount of water available for future use. <br />The operation study supporting the Bureau's conclusions . was <br />furnished the committee. The study has been brought up to date <br />an!! covers the period 1928-60. It shows an average depleted flow <br />at Blanco near the Navajo Reservoir of 899,700 acre"feet annually <br />after allowing for future upstream depletion by the full development <br />of the Pine River project in Colorado, the authorized Weminuche <br />Pass diversion in Colorado, and bypasses at damsite to meet present <br />uses along the San Juan Reservoir between Navajo Dam and Farm- <br />ington. The study indicates demands for the initial phase of the <br />San Juan-Chama project averaging 104,700 acre-feet annually, for the <br />Navajo Indian irrIgation project averaging 508,000 acre-feet annually, <br />and for the Hammond project averaging 23,000 acre-feet annually. <br />The amount for regulatory losses and for natural flow uses below <br />Farmington, not supplied by return flows or by tributary inflow below <br />the Navajo Dam, was estimated to be 20,000 acre-feet annually, and <br />reservoir evaporation losses were estimated to average 38,400 acre-feet <br />annually. As indicated earlier, with the above-listed demands on the <br />reservoir, the spills averaged about 215,000 acre-feet annually for the <br />33-yearperiod of study. <br />The demand for the San Juan-Chama project averaging 104,700 <br />acre-feet is based upon the estimates of divertible flow during the <br />period of study. The annual amounts range from a hi~h of 225,000 <br />acre-feet to a low of 40,000 acre-feet. The long-time dIvertible flow <br />average for the initial stage of the San Juan-Chama project is !lsti- <br />mated to be 110,000 acre-feet annually. . <br />The Bureau's study of the Animas-La Plata project indicates a need <br />to divert the flow of the Animas River and its tributaries for the irri- <br />gation of 84f500 acres, of which 64,300 acres would be in Colorado and <br />20,200 wou d be in New Mexico. The project would also furnish <br />water for industrial and municipal purposes to Durango, Colo. The <br />Bureau estimates the diversion requirements to be about 259,400 <br />acre-feet with an annual depletion estimated to be 130,000 acre-feet, <br />of which 95,900 acre"feet would be in Colorado and 34,100 acre-feet <br />would be in New Mexico. Using the historic flow data tabulated <br />above, and assuming bypass requirements of 28,000 acre-feet annually <br />for downstream irrigation and for fishery purposes, the Bureau comes <br />up with an annual surplus flow of 392,000 acre-feet for the 25-year <br />period 1928-52 which would be available for meeting the Animas-. <br /> <br />