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<br />
<br />106
<br />
<br />WATER LAW REVIEW
<br />
<br />Volume 5
<br />
<br />. . . [t] he Rio de la Plat~ is a beautifully clear, cold, mountain-brook
<br />. , . well-stocked with trl'ut. The valley in which it flows, as it issues
<br />from the mountains, is 'exceedingly beautiful, and our camp, one of
<br />the most delightful imaginable. Our tents are pitched in the shade of
<br />a cluster of gigantic p~nes, such as are scattered, here and there,
<br />singly or in groups, oyer the surface of the valley, separated by
<br />meadows thickly coated! with the finest gramma grass. Stretching off
<br />southward, a wall of verdure, tinted with the fresh and vivid green of
<br />cottonwoods and willm~s, marks, while it conceals, the course of the
<br />sparkling stream whose 'murmuring .flow comes softly to the ear, On
<br />either side of the valle~ rise picturesque wooded hills, which bound
<br />the view both east and '"fest; between these on the south an open vista
<br />reveals, far in the distance, the blue chains of the Sierra del Carriso
<br />and Tunecha [Carrizo and Chuska mountains]. On the north the
<br />bold and lofty summits M the Sierra de la Plata look down upon u~ in
<br />this pjlre atmosphere with an apparent proximity almost startling.'
<br />
<br />The headwaters of the La Plata River rise 13,000 feet above sea
<br />level at Cumberland Peak in the La Plata Mountains about fourteen
<br />miles northwest of Dtlrango, Colorado. The river meanders
<br />approximately thirty-severil miles in a generally southern direction until
<br />reaching the Colorado-New Mexico state line at an elevation of 6,000
<br />feet. The La Plata River ~rainage basin encompasses 331 square miles
<br />in Colorado." From Jamiary 1920 to present, the average annual yield
<br />at the state line streamfldw gaging station has been 25,970 acre-feet."
<br />Within Colorado, the natural streamflows from the La Plata River, its
<br />major tributary Cherry Cveek, and lesser tributary streams, provide the
<br />principle source of water to irrigate approximately 11,000 acres of
<br />land.' Red Mesa Resen;oir, the only irrigation reservoir within the
<br />watershed, is an on-channel irrigation storage vessel located on the
<br />Hay Gulch tributary to thb La Plata River. The reservoir has an active
<br />storage capacity of 1,100 ~cre-feet and provides supplemental water to
<br />irrigate croplands on R~d Mesa when the natural streamflow from
<br />snowmelt recedes." Sout\1 of the Colorado-New Mexico state line, the
<br />La Plata River continues 'for another twenty-one miles before joining
<br />the San Juan River near farmington, New Mexico. In 2000, the New
<br />Mexico Interstate Stream Commission estimated that this lower reach
<br />of the river provides enough water to irrigate 2,700 acres of land in the
<br />15 ,
<br />state. !
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<br />I
<br />10. [d. at 29-30; j.S. NEWBERRY, REpORT OF THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION FROM SANTA
<br />FE, NEW MEXICO, TO THE ]UNqnON OF THE GRAND AND GREEN RIvERS OF THE GREAT
<br />COLORADO OF THE WEST 81 (1876).
<br />11. 2 U.S, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, WATER RESOURCES DATA: COLORADO: WATER YEAR
<br />2000, at 401 (2000) [hereinafter USGS].
<br />12. [d. An acre-foot of water is equal to the volume of water covering one acre, or
<br />43,560 square feet, to a depth or-one foot.
<br />13. KEN BEEGLES, COLORADo!DMSION OF WATER RESOURCES: WATER Drv. VII ANNuAL
<br />REpORT61 (1999-2000). ,
<br />14. COLORADO DMSION OF WATER RESOURCES, DAM STRUCTURE AND SAFETY FiLE FOR
<br />RED MESA RESERVOIR (2001) (on file with author).
<br />15. E~mail from Patricia Trl rney, Staff, Interstate Stream Commission of New
<br />Mexico, to the author (Sept. 17, 2001) (on file with author).
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