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weights assigned to water source, water quality, and site physical conditions. A site could receive a fatal flaw rating if site conditions were determined to be not acceptable. The purpose of the evaluation was to screen the 16 sites to the three highest-ranking sites for which feasibility-level recovery facility designs could be developed later. The results of the evaluations are shown in the matrix in Table 2-1 on the following page. All three of the highest-ranking sites in the evaluation were located in the San Luis Valley. The reconnaissance study also included several conceptual designs and cost estimates for various levels of production and sources of water supply for both a total recovery facility and for a core facility. Estimated costs at that time ranged from about $10 million to $44 million for the type of facility envisioned in the report. Evaluation of Additional Sites The San Luis Valley became a priority location in the site selection process due to the availability of geothermal water from wells, which provide a disease-free, warm water, unpolluted source. San Luis Valley locations also provide sufficient lands, wetland areas for discharge, and water rights available for acquisition. In 1994 and 1995, two additional sites in the San Luis Valley, Mountain View and Chiles Farms, were evaluated as possible facility locations. The two sites were evaluated using the same methodology and evaluation factors used in the 1993 reconnaissance study. The results of those evaluations are given in Table 2-2 and show that ,the two sites ranked somewhat below the top three sites in the 1993 report but still have a fairly high evaluation rating. 1996 Conceptual Desil!n Report Upon further evaluation and discussions with landowners, the three highest-ranking sites in the San Luis Valley and the Mountain View site were eliminated from consideration. In the spring of 1996, the CDOW began a closer evaluation of the Chiles Farms property, which is located about two miles west of Alamosa in the San Luis Valley. In mid-1996, CDOW retained the firm of Fish Pro, Inc. of Port Orchard, Washington to conduct a conceptual design analysis and develop a preliminary cost estimate for a native aquatic species restoration facility. The conceptual design is specific to the Chiles Farms site. The Fish Pro report includes: . operational criteria for fish, amphibian, and mollusk units in the facility, . an analysis of site conditions on the Chiles Farms property, , . an assessment of water supplies and water quality available to the property, 2-2