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. . ~ ", Page 4 WRW washn x x x programs strong has been able to attract some well-known names to the AWDI Board such as former Environmental Protection Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus, now of Houston, former Gov. Richard D. Lamm, D-Colo., David R. williams, Jr., of Tulsa, and Robert B. Anderson of Santa Fe. DETAILS OF CLOSED BASIN PROJECT The San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado is the uppermost part of the multi-state valley of the Rio Grande. The Closed Basin, northeast of Alamosa and Monte Vista, Colo., tho within the San Luis Valley, does not drain into the Rio Grande. It has an internal drainage area of 2,940 square miles separated at its southern end from the Rio Grande watershed by a low alluvial divide. The Closed Basin is a natural depression that collects water and acts as a sump for the upper valley. Several creeks and considerable amounts of irrigation return flows drain into the Closed Basin but do not leave the Basin as surface water. The Closed Basin aquifer circulates the water under- ground. The water ultimately evaporates from the shallow basin at the rate of hundreds of thousands of acre-feet a year. The Closed Basin project is a multiple-purpose project: to sal- vage enough water to meet Colorado's commitments under the Rio Grande Compact and the federal Rio Grande treaty obligation to Mexico; to provide a new source of water to the Alamosa National wildlife Refuge, the Blanca Wildlife Habitat Area, the Russell Lakes Waterfowl Manage- ment Area, and to help restore some of the lost wetlands in the Valley; and to re-establish the San Luis Lake-Head Lake Recreation Area, which has become stagnant from irrigation return flows since the late 1950's. Local water users hope 35,000-acre feet of the 100,000- acre feet of Closed Basin water salvaged by the project annually will be available for use in the area when the project is completed. The Valley gets only about seven inches of rainfall a year. Because of the Rio Grande Compact and treaty commitments, there have been substantial forced curtailments of water use in Colorado to meet these commit- ments. No one knows for certain how much groundwater is in the Closed Basin aquifer, but AWDI claims the amount approaches 2 billion acre- feet, equal to that of the great Ogallala Aquifer in the High plains states east of the Basin. How much water is usable is another unan- swered question. Bu/Rec studies indicate 190,000 acre-feet of good quality water can be salvaged from the Closed Basin, nearly twice the amount provided in the 1972 project authorization. (See map, p.5.lHCM --------------------------------------------------------.-------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THREE NEW GROUNDWATER DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS ANNOUNCED Washington--(WRWl--The Wood River project in Nebraska, the Wood- ward project in Okalahoma, and the Texas High plains project have been selected to complete the Bureau of Reclamation groundwater demonstra- tion program, Bruce Glenn, coordinator of program, told Western Re- sources Wrap-up (WRWl on July 27. The demonstration program studies techniques to recharge declining groundwater levels in Western aqui- fers and to improve the quality of groundwater, (See WRW, Ser ies XXVII ,#23, 6-8-89. l Cost estimates: Texas High plains project $2.7 million, the Nebraska project $1.2 million, and the Oklahoma project $980,000, with the Bureau putting up about 75 percent of the cost, other sponsors 25 percent. The Wood River and High plains projects will improve habitat for wildlife and add wetlands, Glenn said.-30- '" .. ->'0 ~