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<br />~ <br /> <br />PARSHALL PROJECT, COLORADO <br /> <br />River. Denver has expanded its use of Williams Fork River water in <br />recent years and about January 1959 increased the capacity of Williams <br />Fork Reservoir from 6,627 acre-feet to about 93,637 acre-feet. A 3,000- <br />kilowatt capacity hydroelectric powerplant has been constructed by the <br />city and county of Denver at the \\Tilliams Fork Dam. The Big Lake Ditch <br />which heads on the river a few miles above the reservoir and diverts <br />water for irrigation has also been enlarged and improved in recent years <br />in order to supplement the water supply for 2,080 acres and to bring an <br />additional 3,960 acres under irrigation. About 2,300 acres of this new <br />land are already under irrigation and the remaining 1,660 acres are being <br />developed. The Green Mountain Reservoir and Powerplant were constructed <br />on the Blue River in the 1938-43 period as features of the Colorado-Big <br />Thompson reclamation project. A primary purpose of the reservoir is to <br />provide water for downstream rights as a replacement for transbasin diver- <br />sions by the Colorado-Big Thompson project and for future projects on <br />Colorado's western slope. Use of water from the reservoir shall be in <br />accordance with an agreement between eastern and western slope interests <br />which was made a part of the project authorizing legislation and which <br />is publiShed as Senate Document 80, 75th Congress, 1st Session (1937). <br /> <br />Pending water right adjudication <br /> <br />A number of court decrees have been made covering water rights on <br />the Williams Fork and Blue Rivers. Some of the decreed rights are abso- <br />lute and some, particularly those pertaining to recent or proposed devel- <br />opments, are conditional and are subject to further adjudication. <br /> <br />A conditional storage right for 73,248 acre-feet in the potential <br />Ute Park Reservoir has been decreed to the Middle Park Water Conservancy <br />District with priority of September 8, 1954, covering water for the <br />Parshall project. The Big Lake Ditch Company also has a conditional <br />right for 159 second-feet of water for use on lands in the project area <br />in addition to its absolute rights for 175 second-feet. An absolute <br />right for 30 second-feet has also been awarded to Coberly Brothers for <br />use on lands under the Big Lake ditch. <br /> <br />The city and county of Denver has a decreed right with priority of <br />November 10, 1935, to store 93,637 acre-feet of water in the Williams <br />Fork ReserVOir, conditioned upon construction of the reservoir and the <br />beneficial use of the water for specific purposes within a reasonable <br />time. Following construction of the reservoir to an initial capacity of <br />6,627 acre-feet the Denver right was made absolute in that amount, but <br />the remaining 87,010 acre-feet of the right has not been finally adjudi- <br />cated. The city and county of Denver has filed a claim for a water right <br />for its Williams Fork Powerplant stating that construction was commenced <br />by a survey initiated December 31, 1955. <br /> <br />The Middle Park Water Conservancy District and the Colorado River <br />Water Conservation District are protesting Denver's claim for an absolute <br /> <br />2 <br />