PROJ02109 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Alternative V-Two Diversions - The first diversion near Mt Harris will serve the Marshall Roberts and Williams ditches. The second diversion at the Walker diversion will serve the Walker and Shelton ditches. This alternative will require retiuning the river back to its original course. This alternative does not include th~Gibraltar ditch. Alternative VI-One Diversion A meeting on June 9,1 999 was held with J. Mark Oliver of Basin Hydrology who reviewed combining all ditches at with Marshall-Roberts (Alternative /1) as well as the two diversion proposal (Alternative V). Alternative V requires returning the river to its original channel. It was conceded by those present that moving the river back to what is now called the "ranch house" meander who slow the river down and reduce down stream erosion. This is an advantage to this two-diversion alternative. However, diverting the river back involves a large construction project. It was suggested that a Marshall-RobertS diversion combining, Williams, Walker and Shelton , and leaving out Gibraltar for the reasons to be stated might be a more financially feasible solution. This is alternative VI 6.SUMMARY AND COMMENTS . A public meeting was held on November 23, 1998 with the ditch owners, representatives of NRCS and the Upper Yampa District. The several alternatives were reviewed one by one, resulting in a number of questions and comments. a.) There was a consensus that something should be done to eliminate the annual construction of the temporary diversion dams. With the streambank erosion, entrenchment, and the annual loss of substrate materials the structures are rapidly becoming harder and more costly to build. The annual cost to construct them is an important factor in the need to find a permaIient solution to the problem. On the assumption a permanent' solution can be designed, constructed, and financed, Alternative 1, Na Action, was rejected. b.) Alternative II, which includes all five ditches, involves a very complicated and expensive solution to provide water to the Gibraltar ditch, the only diversion on the north side of the river. Furthermore, the principal Gibraltar user, Ted Gilroy foreman for the owner Robert Waltrup, stated that only rarely do they have to construct a dam and when they do, it is usually building a short gravel jetty out into the channel to direct the flow into the ditch. Mr. Gilroy stated at the meeting because the impact on the river is slight the Gibraltar should not be included in the project. To carry all four ditches at the Marshall-Roberts diversion will require an enlargement of the canal, an expensive project where it goes around a rocky point. A disadvantage mentioned is the possibility of drying up the river during low flows, if all ditches divert at the one location. . c.) Alternative III with its single diversion at the Williams headgate, ran into a number of adverse comments. Jeff Blakeslee, manager of the Carpenter Ranch owned by The Nature Conservancy, stated that an enlarged Williams ditch to carry both the Walker and Shelton 5