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OG32Gl Potential Poudre River Water Development Over many years, water user organizations and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have identified six possible, yet unbuilt, dam and reservoir sites between the headwaters of the Poudre and the canyon mouth above Fort Collins. Water resource investigations were conducted by the Bureau in 1928, 1954, 1959, and 1963. The 1963 U.S.B.R. Reconnaissance Report presented a comprehensive plan of development which included several dams and reservoirs, two hydroelectric power plants, support facilities, diversions, and substations on the Poudre mainstem above the canyon's mouth. Decades ago, the Cities of Fort Collins and Greeley secured land and water rights for the Rockwell Reservoir in contemplation of future development on the South Fork of the Poudre River. Water rights were claimed by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD) for the Idylwilde and Indian Meadows Reservoirs and the Grey Mountain Reservoir, all on the Poudre mainstem above the canyon's mouth. Future Water Demand During the past six years, an annual average of approximately 228,710 acre-feet of water per year was lost from the Poudre Basin because of inadequate storage, (See Appendix D). Based on engineering calculations, a long-term average yield of at least 60,000 acre-feet of water annually could be conserved, if adequate storage were developed and efficiently managed above the canyon mouth west of Fort Collins. Median 1980 population of the Poudre service area has been projected to grow from nearly 150,000 to 595,000 persons by the year 2030, according to data from the State Demographer's Office, the U.S. Census Bureau, and local coun~ils of government. Total municipal and industrial water demand is projected to increase from 40,000 acre-feet annually in 1984, to 130,000 acre-feet annually in 2030. Disagreement Regarding the 1984 Wild and Scenic River Bill In the fall of 1983, Representative Brown formed a Citizen's Advisory Committee composed of local water user groups which strongly opposed federal Wild and Scenic River designation and local environmental groups which strongly supported such designation. The Advisory Committee's charge was to recommend whether Wild and Scenic legislation should be introduced by Congressman Brown and, if so, what the contents of that legislation should be. -3-