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. . ~\ . . reallocates CAP water that non-Indian agricultural entities either relinquished or did not contract to various Arizona Tribes and the Arizona Department of Water Resources for future municipal and industrial use. Ruedi Reservoir Marks Its 20lb Year of Electricity Production: Legislation that former President Jimmy Carter championed led to the creation of the hydroelectric plant at the base of the Ruedi Reservoir dam. Carter provided incentives to harness wind, water and solar power the last time that fossil fuel prices soared to record levels and had consumers shaking their heads. Aspen and Pitkin County teamed to acquire the rights to develop a small hydroelectric plant on the Fryingpan River. This year marks the 20th year of power production for that plant. Its turbines produce about 250,000 kilowatt-hours of power annually for the city of Aspen. That fills about two-fifths of the city's annual demand, according to Mark Fuller, director of the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, the hydroelectric plant operator. Fuller said a private entity originally applied for the rights to develop a different type of energy production facility called a "peaking plant." Under that scheme, large amounts of water would have been released from the Ruedi dam at periodic intervals and recaptured at another dam and associated hydroelectric plant two miles downstream. Local governments and many residents opposed construction of a second dam on the Fryingpan River, so the city of Aspen and Pitkin County capitalized on a provision in President Carter's legislation that gave them a priority to develop a hydroelectric plant. They hired General Electric as their contractor and built a $4.5 million plant tucked into the base of Ruedi dam. Construction was under way in 1984-85, and the plant started producing electricity in 1986. It generates about $400,000 worth of power annually and sale of that energy helps pay off the construction bonds. Transmission lines feed the power into Aspen's municipal system. The Ruedi hydroelectric plant uses a "run of the river" system. An intake pipe at the dam uses gravity to shoot up to 300 cubic feet per second of water down to the plant. The water is split into two pipes of about 3 feet in diameter that enter the plant from different sides and hit the turbine in an offset way, one high and one low, to spin it more effectively. A large generator attached to the turbine converts the water power into electrical energy. No one staffs the plant. It is wired to alert a maintenance crew in Glenwood Springs when there is a problem with operations. Fuller said the hydroelectric plant works efficiently when the dam releases between 70 and 300 cfs of water. In the wintertime, the level often slips below that 70 cfs threshold and no power is produced. Flows in late spring and parts of the summer often exceed 300 cfs, so additional water is released directly through the dam. 2005 Colorado River Symposium Proceedings Available: The written proceedings of California's Water Education Foundation's 2005 Colorado River Symposium, "Sharing the Risks: Shortage, Surplus and Beyond," is now available. Held last September, the 5lh biennial invitation-only symposium brought together the top policymakers in the Colorado River Basin. Discussions centered on past and present droughtlhydrologic conditions; how, or if, potential shortages should be shared; water rights and U.S. Mexican border issues; and what the future may hold as the region sees an increasing transition from farms to cities. Copies are $50, plus applicable tax and shipping charges. To order the proceedings go to htto:/ /WWW. wa tereducation .org/ store/ defaul t.asp ?paren tid=8 23