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<br />,. <br /> <br />Town of New Castle - Colorado River Diversion <br />July 28-29, 2003 <br /> <br />Agenda Item 21f <br /> <br />Alternative No.1, No action alternative: This alternative was deemed unacceptable due to the <br />associated risk and severity of not addressing the impacts of wildfire and drought on the Town of <br />New Castle's water supply. <br /> <br />Alternative No.2, East Elk Creek Mitigation: Alternatives to mitigate water quality problems from <br />the fire-damaged watershed were eliminated due to costs. Water rights senior to the Ware and <br />Hines are currently not available for purchase in the Elk Creek drainage. A change in the point of <br />diversion is cost prohibitive and may not completely eliminate the risk of water rights curtailment <br /> <br />Alternative No.3, Develop New Well Reid: Research has been conducted to investigate the <br />location for a well field with the primary goal producing an adequate water supply in both quantity and <br />quality. Preliminary findings indicate that wells in the area have poor water quality and production rates <br />lower than required to meet the demands of an alternate water supply. <br /> <br />Alternative No.4, Colorado River Diversion: Developing an alternate source of water supply from <br />the Colorado River was selected since it is a both physically and economically reasonable approach. <br /> <br />Selected Alternative 4, Colorado River Diversion - The selected alternative is to construct a <br />diversion structure and pump station on the Colorado River, for treatment at the Town's existing water <br />plant A,head gate on the Colorado River would gravity flow water to a pump station on the south side <br />of 1-70. From there water would be pumped to a sedimentation pond north of 1-70. A second pump <br />station would lift the water to the treatment plant, an elevation increase of about 250 vertical feet A <br />, new 12" PVC waterline, 8750 feet in length, would be constructed to the treatment plant The pipeline <br />alignment .would initially be along Elk Creek, to the Town's Midland Ave. street right-of.;..way, and then <br />along County Rd. 245 upto the treatment plant. The system would pump 1800 gpm, and each pump <br />station would have two pumps plus a back-up pump. Construction of an alternate water supply facility <br />from the Colorado River would provide the town with a reliable water source during times when <br />diversion from East Elk Creek is prohibited by either water rights administration or poor water quality. <br />The Total Project cost, based on updated engineer's opinion of cost, is estimated to be: <br /> <br />1. <br />2. <br /> <br />Construction <br />Engineering Fees <br /> <br />TOTAL <br /> <br />$ 936,900 <br />70.000 <br />$ 1,006,900 <br /> <br />Schedule - The Town of New Castle is expecting to complete the final design by summer 2003. <br />Construction is expected to begin in late summer/early fall 2003 and to be completed by November <br />2003. All necessary permits and notifications are in process with the U.S. Army Corps of <br />Engineers, COPHE, COOT, Garfield County and Town of New Castle representatives. <br /> <br />Financial Analvsis <br /> <br />The total estimated cost of the project is $1,006,900. The Town qualifies for the Municipal High <br />Income interest rate. Staff is recommending a loan for a maximum amount of $700,000 <br />(approximately 70% of estimated project cost) for 30 years at an interest rate of 4.5% per annum. <br />The Town has sufficient Utility Fund reserves in place to cover their $91,900 share ofthe project. <br />The current water rates will be raised approximately $4.00 per month to repay the CWCS loan. <br />Funding sources for the project are shown in Table 1: <br /> <br />Page 3 of 7 <br />