Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Appendix I <br /> <br />Background on and Overview of the <br />Animas-La Plata Project <br /> <br />According to the final biological opinion prepared by the Department of <br />the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), the completed Animas-La <br />Plata project would annually deplete approximately 155,000 acre-feet! of <br />water from the Animas and La Plata rivers, store the water in two <br />reservoirs, and convey it-through a network of pipelines and canals-to <br />communities and irrigators located near the Animas and La Plata rivers in <br />southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The project would <br />also provide water to the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian <br />reservations.2 Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) currently <br />estimates the cost of the completed project at about $710 million. Figure <br />I. I shows the area covered by the project. <br /> <br />IAn acre-foot is the volume of water that would cover 1 acre to a depth of 1 foot. <br /> <br />2The project would also provide water to the Navajo Na.tion, which has not agreed to receive tl1is <br />water. <br /> <br />Page 8 <br /> <br />GAOIRCED-96-1 ADlmas-La Plata Proleet <br />