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( I .. .. ',-, t. . t-- APPENDIX E proportional share of the Compact project storage evaporation, or they can be lost by azv amount of spill from Compact projeot storage. Because the evaporation rate is several times greater in the vioinity of Elephant Butte Reservoir than it is in the higher altitudes of the San Luis Valley and beoause of the possibility of loss of credit water through spill, it is advantageous for Colorado to store its water in Colorado insofar as possible. Colorado oan aooumulate debits to the limit of 100,000 aore-feet plus additional debit oaused by holdover storage in reservoirs oonstruoted after 1937 provided that, Tlithin the physioallimitations of storage oapao- ity in such reservoirs, Colorado shall retain water in storage at all t;imes to the extent of its acorued debit, As of .Deceaber 31, 1951, Colorado had an aOln'\lEld oredit of 900 aore-feet. Although offioial oomputations have not been made since 1951, unoffioial oomputations indioate that as of December 31, 1954, Colorado would have an aoorued debit of 231,900 aore- feet. As shown by theoomparison of the limitations on aocrued debits ard the unoffioially oomputed debit as of December 31, 1954, additional stor.- age would be of assistance relative to oompliance Vlith the terms of the Rio Grande Compaot. As in the oase of oredits, debits ma.v also be reduced ._ in several wa.vs. They oan be offset by subsequent oredits, they oan be reduced by evaporation as they llIUSt bear their proportional share of reservoir evaporatioIl, they can be released to Compaot projeot storage in aocordance with oertain provisions of the Compact, they oan be reduoed by having the unfilled capaoity. in Compact project storage beooming less than the amount of the debit because the debit' cannot exceed the amount of unfilled oapaoi.ty in Compact project Iltorage, or they can be oancelled by spill of usable water from Compact projeot storage. AIw debit'water in storage in e::::oess of the unfilled oapaoity of Compaot projeot storage beoomes the property of t:lEl ovner of the reservoir storing such debit waterc In the event of spill of usable 1i!lter from Compaot projeot storage, all debits and credits are cancelled ani the debit water in storage becomes the property of the owner of the reservoir storing such debit water. Urder the last two methods by whioh debits could be reduced, it lIOuld be advantageous to Colorado to hold debit water in storage to obtain owmr- ship of the 1i!lter. However,caraful operation of reservoirs constructed after 1937 would be required to prevent the storage capaoity from beooming filled Vlith debit water to the extent that the inflO1r to the reservoir could not be controlled to obtain maximum benef:l.oial use of the allowable share of the basin water sup~'. FLOODS , . Nearl:v. all.lpE{j.o}o "rio9d1l ilitb$,&in Luis.V.a1ley have: ooencaus~tl-'. .'. b1J rains'on heavy snOW". cover. RoV/evel;', in October 1911, a heavy rainfall alone caused a peak discharge of 18,000 cubic feet per second at Del Norte, the highest ever reoorded there. Rainfall for the three days from Octo- ber 4 through 6 was 2.65 inches at Wagon ibeel Gap am 4.83 inches at Cumhrea. Damage was lim1ted primarily to the area aroum Del Norte, but; lam. was inurrlated to illamosa. At Del Norta the three-day volume was 61,500 acre-feet ani at W~son 25,200 acre-feet. . .' Eoo2:3 r ....,.# j"':, I.""! I.., .. .A V 'J ,)