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<br />Hydrology and Water Rights <br /> <br />Miner's Lake is an offstream reservoir and is filled by waters diverted either out of <br />the North Fork of the Cache La Poudre through the North Poudre Ditch or by <br />waters of the Cache La Poudre River diverted by the North Poudre Supply Canal <br />(Munroe Ditch). By appropriation dated March 1, 1883 priority Number 7 NPIC is <br />allowed to store water to a depth of ten feet above the base of the outlet tube to a <br />capacity of 436 acre feet in the reservoir. By appropriation dated October 1, <br />1888 priority Number 16 NPIC is allowed storage of an additional four feet <br />making the total storage depth 14 feet and a capacity of 674 acre feet. Also, <br />NPIC is entitled to one refilling of the reservoir, up to 459 acre feet, by Reservoir <br />Refill Priority No. 1361 as of December 31, 1921. A summary of water rights are <br />found in Appendix B. <br /> <br />Project Description and Alternatives <br /> <br />The purpose of this project is to make the repairs and modifications necessary to <br />retain the decreed storage rights at Miner's Lake. The water rights cannot be <br />transferred and NPIC is in danger of losing some of these rights if the repairs are <br />not made. Rehabilitation of the reservoir to the full decreed capacity will enable <br />NPIC to provide irrigation water to shareholders and trade or sell water to other <br />entities. Three alternatives were considered: <br /> <br />1. The no-action alternative. <br />2. Rehabilitate the dam, outlet works, and spillway. <br />3. Rehabilitate the dam, outlet works, and spillway and remove silt. <br /> <br />Alternative No. 1 was considered unacceptable because it would mean NPIC <br />would eventually relinquish valuable storage rights. <br /> <br />Alternative No.2 was considered unacceptable because it would mean the loss <br />of approximately 75 acre feet of storage. <br /> <br />Alternative No.3 was selected because it will allow NPIC to retain its decreed <br />water rights at a reasonable cost per acre-foot of storage. <br /> <br />The selected alternative, Alternative No.3, involves regrading the upstream <br />face of the dam and adding riprap, regrading and reinforcing the downstream <br />face of the dam, adding a blanket and toe drains, enlarging the spillway, <br />replacement of the outlet works, removal of silt to obtain full capacity, and <br />reconstruction and automation of the inlet diversion. Preliminary plan drawings <br />can be found in Appendix C. <br /> <br />The estimated cost of the completed project is $760,000. The cost breakdown is <br />summarized in Table 1. <br /> <br />- 3 - <br />