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<br />MAY lQ82 <br /> <br />Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company, the major user and distributor of <br /> <br />Dolores River water, possesses absolute diversion right for 707.7 cubic feet <br /> <br />per second (cfs) to irrigate 46,000 acres of land, a conditional right for <br /> <br />592.3 cfs to irrigate an additional 38,500 acres, and a right for the <br /> <br />year-round use of 100 cfs for stock, domestic, and industrial purposes. The <br /> <br />company diverts an average of 116,000 acre-feet annually (1957-73), conveys <br /> <br />the water into Montezuma Valley through a tunnel and a main canal, and <br /> <br />distributes it to users through an extensive system of canals and laterals. <br /> <br />The Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company experiences shortages of about ]3 <br /> <br />percent of its annual irrigation requirements, usually in the late summer. <br /> <br />Completion of the Dolores Project will alleviate this shortage. <br /> <br />The Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company provides storage and regulation <br /> <br />at three reservoirs in and near the study area. Groundhog Reservoir is <br /> <br />located on Groundhog Creek, a tributary of the West Dolores River, and h~s a <br /> <br />capacity of 21,700 acre-feet. Narraguinnep ~servoir, located about 10 <br /> <br />miles north of Cortez, has a capacity of 19,000 acre-feet. Totten <br /> <br />Reservoir, to the east of Cortez, has a capacity of 3,000 acr~-feet. Both <br /> <br />of these reservoirs store water diverted from the Dolores River. <br /> <br />The Surumit Reservoir and Irrigation Company, another user of Dolores <br /> <br />River water, possesses absolute storage right for 4,088 acre-feet and <br /> <br />conditional storage right for another 3,289 acre-feet annually. This water <br /> <br />is diverted from the Lost Canyon Creek tributary of the Dolores River, <br /> <br />transported to the Puett and Summit reservoirs, and used to irrigate about <br /> <br />4,600 acres of land in the extreme northeast end of the McElmo Creek <br /> <br />drainage area. <br /> <br />001844 <br /> <br />111-8 <br />