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Water district seeks permanent exchange for wetlands

JERRYMcBRIDE/Durango Herald file photos

The La Plata Water Conservancy District is seeking permanent authorization for a water supply exchange to maintain wetlands along the La Plata River.

The district submitted an application to the state engineer requesting to release water from the Bobby K. Taylor Reservoir, or Long Hollow, to fulfill its contractual obligation of supplying water to New Mexico per the La Plata River Compact.

In exchange, the district can use Bureau of Reclamation water claims upstream to irrigate wetlands along the La Plata River.

“As part of the construction of the Long Hollow Reservoir, LPWCD had to find a suitable replacement for the wetlands in the Long Hollow area,” said Rob Genualdi, a Division 7 engineer for the Division of Water Resources. “They created a permanent wetlands replacement on the La Plata River.”

The water supply plan is a minor proposal but necessary to fulfill an environmental obligation that was a condition of building the reservoir.

The water district has requested a temporary substitute water plan each year for this purpose. A favorable ruling in the pending court case would grant the district permanent authority to exchange the water each year.

Bobby K. Taylor Reservoir, completed in 2014, is managed by the La Plata Water Conservancy District and built on Long Hollow Dam. It’s a tributary to the La Plata River, to which Colorado and New Mexico have a 50-50 split claim. The reservoir gives New Mexico its fair share when the La Plata River does not produce enough.



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