Florida Water Conservancy District

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WWE has worked for the Florida Water Conservancy District (FWCD) in Durango since 2002 providing an array of water rights, water conservation, and water resources planning services. Some highlights of our services to the District have included:

  • In 2006, WWE completed a Water Conservation and Management Plan for the District.  The plan was developed with funding from the FWCD Board, the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), and the Florida Consolidated Ditch Company.  The goal of the plan was to identify additional water conservation and management measures, like the canal lining shown below, that could enhance existing water measurement programs or provide additional programs.  WWE helped FWCD to develop tasks to provide the first steps in implementing candidate water measures.  A quantified savings of 4,400 acre-feet was achieved.  In 2015, WWE developed an updated plan for FWCD.

  • WWE performed a water rights modeling and reservoir accounting program for a 2,500-acre foot water rights use enlargement for the USBR for the 40,000-acre-foot Lemon Reservoir.  The modeling (including National Environmental Policy Act compliance) was performed in support of the Decree in Case No. 07CW9, in contract with the USBR. WWE’s role included modeling hydrologic inflows, reservoir operations, minimum instream flows, and municipal and irrigation water deliveries for the Colorado Water Conservation Board, City of Durango, and Florida Consolidated Ditch Companies.

  • WWE is working with the Florida Consolidated Ditch Company on the rehabilitation of the Florida Canal Diversion Structure on the Florida River near Durango.  The structure is over 100 years old and is in need of repair.  The FCDC has partnered with The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife on this multi-purpose project that will transform a fish passage that has been in place for over a century and create a safer structure that is more friendly to aquatic habitat.

  • WWE developed technical comments regarding the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s proposed Critical Habitat for the endangered New Mexico meadow jumping mouse. WWE compiled a technical and legal team and produced a substantial comment letter in less than two weeks.