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<br />STATE OF COLORADO <br /> <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br /> <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 721 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3441 <br />FAX: (303) 866-4474 <br />www.cwcb.state.co.us <br /> <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br />(Updated May 27, 2005) <br /> <br />Bill Owens <br />Governor <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board Members <br /> <br />Bruce Johnson, P.E. G?~.. ~ r . <br />Mike Serlet, P.E., Chief :....,; <br />Water Supply Planning an inance Section <br /> <br />Russell George <br />Executive Director <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />Rod Kuharich <br />CWCB Director <br /> <br />Dan McAuliffe <br />Deputy Director <br /> <br />DATE: <br /> <br />May 13, 2005 <br /> <br />SUBJECT: . Agenda Item 15a, May 24-25,2005 Board Meeting <br />Water Supply Planning and Finance Section - New Project Loans <br />Bijou Irrigation District - Empire Reservoir Dam Rehabilitation <br /> <br />(Note: Revisions to the May 13, 2005 loan memo are shown in Italics) <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />The Bijou Irrigation District (BID) is applying for a $666,000 loan from the Severance Tax Trust Fund <br />Perpetual Base Account, to rehabilitate the Empire Reservoir by constructing a new spillway and <br />installing toe drains at two embankment locations. The estimated total cost of the project is $740,000. <br />Please see the attached Project Data Sheet. <br /> <br />Backaround <br /> <br />The BID owns and operates Empire Reservoir located west of Fort Morgan in Weld and Morgan <br />Counties, between 1-76 on the south and US Highway 34 on the north. BID provides irrigation <br />water to a 19, 177-acre service area in Morgan County, located between the reservoir and the City <br />of Fort Morgan. BID is a taxing district that levies a tax per acre based on benefits received, not an <br />ad valorem property tax. The irrigation water is primarily used to grow com (approx. 70%) and hay <br />(approx 20%). In addition to the Reservoir, BID owns and operates the diversion structure on the <br />South Platte and the reservoir intake and outlet ditches. Water stored in the reservoir is delivered <br />to users through a sister company, Bijou Irrigation Company (BIC), which operates and maintains <br />the distribution system, used for either direct irrigation or exchanges. BIC has direct flow rights at <br />the Bijou Canal diversion on the South Platte, and maintains about 90 miles of ditch, Bijou No.2 <br />Reservoir, and some augmentation ponds. Empire Reservoir is used to supplement the direct <br />flows, typically in July and August. Annual delivery from the reservoir is about 19,900 acre-feet. <br />The proposed loan for Empire Reservoir is to the District and does not involve the BIC. <br /> <br />Empire Reservoir is an off-stream reservoir constructed in 1905. Water is diverted from the South <br />Platte River through the Empire Intake Ditch. The dam is a Class 1 Dam with a height of 35 feet <br /> <br />Flood Protection · Water Supply Planning and Finance. Stream and Lake Protection <br />Water Supply Protection. Conservation and Drought Planning <br />