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! ',.r ,',>, (acre-ft!yr) on its water debt reduction. This would prolong the life of the Colorado water debt and reduce the time the United States has for water sales after the debt is fulfilled. Additionally, the project authorization limits the amount of salvaged project water that may be delivered to the Refuge and Blanca Wildlife Habitat Area to 5,300 acre-feet. 2. Other lands with water rights. The Larwill-Costilla property (figure II-I), consisting of 550 acres of grassland and appurtenant rights, was also considered as an alternative. The property has 837 acre-ft!yr ,of artesian adjudicated water rights and two shares of the Costilla Canal. There are several disadvantages to this particular purchase as an alternative to pur- chasing the Lillpop property. The ditch rights in the Costilla Ditch are much inferior in priority and quantity to the rights included with the Lillpop Ranch. It would also be necessary to reddll the artesian wells on the Larwill-Costilla property to produce the adjudicated volume of water, and some ditch rehabilita- tion would be necessary. Also, a railroad and county road separate the Larwill- Costilla property and the Refuge--a county road lies on the west, u.s. High- way 160 lies on the north, and farm and ranchland exist on the northeast and west of the property. For the above reasons, this alternative was not favorably considered. D. No action Under the "no action" plan, Reclamation would fail to comply with approved mitigation requirements established during project planning and review. Only a portion of the mitigation water (4,500 acre-ft!yr from the conveyance channel II-3 \ f-", rl ,; "3- 'r'l r" uuu .J~