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00151'l 3-Brick- Wyoming Proposal Confidential-For Settlement Purposes Only March 3,1997 7. 3-Brick Project (Pathfinder Enlargement) I. The 3-Brick Project would increase the capacity of the existing Pathfinder Reservoir by approximately 54,000 acre feet to recapture storage space lost to sediment. The enlargement would be accomplished by raising the elevation of the existing spillway by approximately 2.39 feet with the installation of an inflatable dam or some other means. The enlargement would store water under the existing 1904 storage right for Pathfinder Reservoir and would enjoy the same entitlements as other uses in the reservoir with the exception that the enlargement could not place regulatory calls on existing water rights upstream of Pathfinder Reservoir other than the rights pertaining to Seminoe Reservoir. 2. Reactivation of the storage will affect the users and contractors for water from Glendo, Pathfinder and Seminoe Reservoirs in Wyoming. Therefore, in order to address these effects, Wyoming has agreed to pay the Wyoming and Nebraska federal contractors share of the Safety of Dams Modifications to the federal reservoirs to be implemented by the Bureau of Reclamation in the near future. In addition, as Seminoe Reservoir is the project most affected by the enlargement, Wyoming has also agreed to assist the Casper A1cova Irrigation District, the federal contractor for Seminoe water, with the resolution of existing selenium issues that are impacting its existing operation. 3. Approximately 34,000 acre feet of the proposed 54,000 acre foot enlargement would be operated for the benefit of endangered species and habitat in Central Nebraska. a. Water would accrue to the environmental account as an equal priority partner to other reservoir uses. The 34,000 account is approximately 3. I 8% (34,000/1,070,000) of the active capacity of Pathfinder Reservoir. Therefore, the account would accrue 3.18% of the inflow that is storable under the 1904 storage right. If the 3.18% inflow results in the account being filled, the inflow would be allocated to other priority uses within tbe basin or flow downstream. b. The account could not contain more than 34,000 acre feet at anyone time. For example, if at the end of a water year, which is defined as October I to September 30, 10,000 acre feet of water was in the account, the account could only accrue 24,000 acre feet under its priority fill during the forthcoming water year. c. The account would be assessed its proportionate share of evaporation losses based on the storage water in the account. If there is a need to evacuate storage space before the reservoir is filled, the account would be debited its proportionate share of the amount evacuated and would be credited its proportionate share in the same manner as other uses when the reservoir is refilled.