The Montezuma Valley Irrigation Co. will hold its annual meeting on Jan. 22 at 1 p.m. at the Lewis Arriola Community Center, 21176 County Road S.

The meeting is attended by board of directors and shareholders.

The directors are President Gerald Koppenhafer, Mesa Verde District No. 7; Vice President James Snyder, Arriola District No.2; Marc Garlinghouse, Lewis District No. 1; Danny Wilkin, Lebanon District No. 3; Less Nunn, Lakeview District No. 4; Bill Jarrett, Beulah District No. 5; and Drew Gordanier, McElmo District No. 6.

There will be a board election at the annual meeting for open board seats held by Nunn, Koppenhafer and Garlinghouse, said MVIC General Manager Brandon Johnson.

Nunn and Koppenhafer are running unopposed. Garlinghouse faces challengers Gayle Alexander and Jube Odell. Nominations for the board seat candidates can be made from the floor during the meeting. Terms are for three years.

At the meeting water assessments will be set, and the budget will be voted on. There will be company updates and a legal report. A time is scheduled for audience questions.

Johnson will give an update on water projects, including the Groundhog Outlet Modification Project.

The project will install a guard gate system that allows reservoir infrastructure work without draining the lake, Johnson said.

“It is totally new and allows us to make repairs more efficiently,” he said.

Bids for the project are due by Feb. 25, and the award will be issued by March 10. Information is available at mvic.info.

The project includes partial demolition of existing concrete intake structure and existing gates; construction of a concrete structure; installation of three hydraulically operated slide gates (owner supplied); construction of concrete grade beam and trash rack material unit; installation of hydraulic pressure unit for gate control (owner supplied); and construction of 10 foundation piles.

The reservoir will be drained for construction. The project is expected to take 60 days and should be substantially completed by Nov. 1.

Other upcoming in-house projects are piping improvements and finishing the liner on the Lone Pine canal, Johnson said.

MVIC operates Groundhog, Narraquinnep and Totten reservoirs and has storage rights in McPhee Reservoir.

It serves 1,517 shareholders in a farming and ranching area of 26,300 people, and has a water supply from the Dolores River that ranges between 90,000 to 150,000 acre-feet, which is subject to watershed supply.