Animas - La Plata Project
Contact: Barry Wirth, (801) 524-3774
The President's FY 2009 budget request for the Animas-La Plata Project is $50.0 million to continue the implementation of the Colorado Ute Settlement Act Amendments of 2000. The project, located in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico, will provide the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe with a reliable water supply, while protecting scarce water resources for other water users in the Basin. Construction on the project is 57% complete as of September 30, 2007.
Ridges Basin Dam, which forms an off-stream water storage facility, Lake Nighthorse (formally named Ridges Basin Reservoir) was topped out during November, 2007. Construction on the pumping plant and inlet conduit near Durango, Colorado is well underway. The reservoir will be able to store about 120,000 acre-feet of water from the Animas River. Water from Lake Nighthorse will be released back to the Animas River as needed for municipal and industrial users. Included in the 120,000 acre-foot reservoir capacity will be an inactive pool of about 30,000 acre-feet for recreational, fishery and water quality purposes. In addition, construction will begin in FY 2008 on a buried pipeline will carry water from Farmington to the Shiprock area to benefit the Navajo Nation.