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1 <br />' SECTION III 13 <br />• WATER RIGHTS <br />GENERAL <br />' Minnesota Creek is an over-appropriated stream; that is there are mare water <br />rights than there is water. There are over 160 cfs of decreed direct <br />diversion rights and over 3000 AF of storage rights. See Table I for a fist <br />of all of the water rights decreed in the basin. hinnesota Creek has along <br />and complex history of water right transfers. The most senior rights on the <br />stream are quite small, usually less than 1 cfs, with Turner Ditch holding <br />the largest senior right of 3.79 cfs in priorities 1 and 2. The Minnesota <br />' Canal is the largest diverter on the stream. It holds nearly 60 cfs of <br />direct flow decrees, and in addition, it carries Monument Reservoir, Beaver <br />' Reservcir, Deep Creek transbasin diversion, and other water rights. The <br />Canal aiverts about half of all water diverted fran Minnesota Creek. The <br />Minnesota Canal Priority No. 20 water right for 32.50 cfs is the most <br />important call on the stream. Wlten the snotmelt runoff is over, priority 20 <br />is the calling right for most, if not all, of the rest of the irrigation <br />]• season. <br />J Uurtny the non-irria at ion season, historically there has not been a demand <br />or a "call" for direct flew water. The only water rights of consequence <br />J exercised in the winter are the storage rights. Since there is no <br />dot+~stream cal] in the winter they can not be called out. Physically, the <br />Beaver and Lone Cabin reservoirs can not be directly affected by the mining <br />operations since the area above the proposea mine is not tributary to either <br />reservoir. <br />Monument Reservoir, located on Dry Fork, holds a 1285.28 AF storage right <br />J with an appropriation date of 6-5-1899 and an adjudication date of <br />6-23-1914. This reservoir is located within the proposed mine boundary, but <br />j below the F seam of coal. No mining will occur under the reservoir. <br />1 Deep Creek Ditch, a transbasin diversion from the Little Gunnison drainage, <br />aelivers water to Dry Fork above hbrtunent Reservoir. This transbasin water <br />• traverses across about 2 miles of the mine block in a natural stream. <br />