Date: 09/06/2012
Final
Colorado's Allocation of Animas-La Plata Project
WATER RESOURCES REVIEW COMMITTEE
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10:59 AM -- Colorado's Allocation of Animas-La Plata Project
Tim Feehan, Assistant Director, Resource Management, Colorado Water Conservation Board, explained that the Animas-La Plata Project (A-LP) was constructed to resolve reserved water rights for Ute Tribes in the Southwest Colorado and address other water supply needs in the basin. Completed in 2010, the Animas-La Plata Project (A-LP) consists of a pumping plant on the Animas River near Durango, a conveyance pipeline, and a 120,000 acre foot (AF) reservoir named Lake Nighthorse. The reservoir is currently full and waiting to begin water deliveries. Most of the project's $500 million cost will be paid by the federal government to resolve reserved water rights claims by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Southern Ute Tribe. Non-tribal beneficiaries will pay for the remainder of the project's cost. Under the Colorado Ute Settlement Act Amendments of 2000, the state of Colorado is allotted 10,460 AF of water — or 5,230 AF of depletions — in the A-LP Project. In order to acquire this water, Colorado must either purchase this water directly or identify municipal and industrial water suppliers who are willing to purchase the state’s allotment. In 2010, the Colorado General Assembly appropriated $12 million for three consecutive years, starting June 30, 2011, from the Perpetual Base Account of the Severance Tax Trust Fund for the purchase of the state of Colorado's allotment of A-LP Project water. The final payment was authorized in the 2012 CWCB Construction Fund bill. Mr. Feehan also identified potential uses of the state's allocation.