Dolores PROJECT DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN
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DOLORES PROJECT DROUGHT DOLORES WATER CONSERVANCY CONTINGENCY DISTRICT PLAN A plan to reduce the impacts of drought for users of the Dolores Project by implementing mitigation and response actions to decreases theses impacts November January 20172018 0 Table of Contents TABLES AND FIGURES .............................................................................................................. 3 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................ 4 ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS ..................................................................................... 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 6 DISTRICT BOARD RESOLUTION TO ADOPT PLAN ........................................................... 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 11 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 12 Purpose of the Drought Contingency Plan ..................................................................... 12 Planning Area ................................................................................................................. 12 History of Dolores Project.............................................................................................. 20 Dolores Project Drought Background ............................................................................ 27 2 Funding and Public Stakeholder Involvement ...................................................................... 34 Planning Task Force ....................................................................................................... 34 Task Force Involvement ................................................................................................. 34 Public Stakeholders ........................................................................................................ 34 Public Stakeholder Involvement and Comments ........................................................... 34 3 Drought Monitoring .............................................................................................................. 36 Methodology for Monitoring, Accounting, and Determining Drought ..................... 3736 Description of Past Dolores Project Droughts ........................................................... 4039 Current Drought Monitoring and Potential Future Improvements............................. 4140 4 Vulnerability Assessment ................................................................................................. 4442 Impact of Past Dolores Project Droughts on Water Users ......................................... 4442 Summary of Past and Future Risk of Economic Losses ............................................ 6157 Summary of Past and Future Risk of Social and Environmental Losses ................... 6157 Assessment of Climate Change on Future Risk ......................................................... 6359 5 Mitigation Actions Prior to a Drought .............................................................................. 6661 Structural Mitigation Actions ..................................................................................... 6762 Non-Structural Mitigation Actions............................................................................. 9792 6 Response Actions to a Drought..................................................................................... 108102 1 Active Communication Structure ........................................................................... 110102 Improve Water Supply Projections and Timing ..................................................... 111103 Use of DWCD Water Portfolio for Other Project Uses During a Drought ............ 114106 Narraguinnep Reservoir Re-Operations ................................................................. 115107 Municipal Water Conservation .............................................................................. 115107 7 Operation and Administrative Framework ................................................................... 116108 Roles ....................................................................................................................... 117108 Responsibilities & Procedures ............................................................................... 117108 8 Plan Update Process ...................................................................................................... 119110 Plan Evaluation Process ......................................................................................... 119110 Measuring the Effectiveness of the Plan ................................................................ 119110 Timing of Updates to the Plan................................................................................ 120111 9 Summary of Drought Plan Actions ............................................................................... 121112 Table of Potential Mitigation and Response Actions ............................................. 121112 Potential Response Actions .................................................................................... 124115 2 TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1. Dolores Project Allocations .......................................................................................................... 36 Table 2. FRE Drought Water Supply and Income ...................................................................................... 45 Table 3. Full Service Irrigation Drought Water Supply and Income* ........................................................ 46 Table 4. Full Service Irrigation Crop Census Summary ............................................................................. 48 Table 5. Dolores County Drought Crop Yield Per Acre ............................................................................. 49 Table 6. Montezuma County Drought Crop Yield Per Acre ...................................................................... 49 Table 7. Total MVIC Project and Non-Project Water Supply* .................................................................. 50 Table 8. Downstream Fishery Project Water Supply* ................................................................................ 52 Table 9. Installation Cost Estimate ......................................................................................................... 6866 Table 10. Connection of Irrigated Lands to Rocky Ford Cost Estimate ................................................. 7068 Table 11. Lower Arickaree Canal Cost Estimate .................................................................................... 7674 Table 12. Piping of Existing Goodland Canal Cost Estimate ................................................................. 7977 Table 13. Piping of Goodland Canal Tailwaters to THC Cost Estimate ................................................ 8078 Table 14. Moonlight Canal Cost Estimate .............................................................................................. 8381 Table 15. Potential Structural Mitigation Actions .............................................................................. 108106 Table 16 . Potential Non-Structural Mitigation Actions ..................................................................... 109107 Table 17. Potential Response Actions ................................................................................................. 116114 Table 18. Structural Mitigation Actions Priorities .............................................................................. 122120 Table 19. Structural Mitigation Actions Continued… ........................................................................ 123121 Table 20. Potential Response Actions Priorities ................................................................................. 124122 Figure 1. Location Map ............................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 2. Yearly Streamflow of the Dolores River at the Town of Dolores (1896-2016) .......................... 17 Figure 3. Precipitation at Great Cut (Water Year 1986-2016) .................................................................... 18 Figure 4. Average Cumulative Snow Pack on May 1 for Lone Cone, El Diente Peak, Lizard Head Pass, and Scotch Creek SNOTEL sites ....................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 5. McPhee Maximum Active Capacities ......................................................................................... 30 Figure 6. Total McPhee Reservoir Inflow .................................................................................................. 31 Figure 7. McPhee Ending Active Capacity and Yearly Spill ...................................................................... 32 Figure 8. Percentage of Full Allocation Available ..................................................................................... 33 Figure 9. Monthly Streamflow of McElmo Creek at the CO/UT Stateline ............................................ 5955 Figure 10. Yearly Streamflow of McElmo Creek at the CO/UT Stateline ............................................. 6056 Figure 11. General Location of Valves ..................................................................................................