Colorado - Bull Creek Res. No. 5 Spillway Analysis_Water Activity Summary

• Basin Roundtable: Colorado
• Applicant: Bull Creek Reservoir Canal and Power Company
• Description: Bull Creek Reservoir No. 5 Spillway Adequacy Analysis
• Account Source: Basin
• Board Meeting Date: 9/19/2007
• Contract/PO #: 08000000039
• WSRA - Doc Type: Water Activity Summary Sheet - CWCB Evaluation/Approval Documents

Water Supply Reserve Account – Grant and Loan Program
Water Activity Summary Sheet

Applicant: Amount Requested:
Bull Creek Res. Canal & Power Co $50,000
Source of Funds:
Basin
Water Activity Name:
Bull Creek Res. No. 5
Spillway Analysis
Water Activity Purpose: Matching Funds:
Technical Assistance None
(Permitting, Feasibility & Environmental)
County:
Mesa
Drainage Basin:
Colorado River
Water Source:
Bull Creek

Water Activity Summary:

Bull Creek Reservoir Canal and Power Company is a private 1896 non-profit corporation. The Company
owns and operates five reservoirs located within the Grand Mesa National Forest. The reservoirs serve 26
stockholders (including Ute Water Conservancy District) and provide irrigation water to approximately 800
acres in the Plateau Valley on the north side of Grand Mesa. The reservoirs are also used by the general
public for fishing and recreation. Additional uses include stock water, wetlands sustenance, and wildlife
enhancement, and are an amenity to the National Forest.

The Company holds senior decreed water rights (1895 to 1935) for 861 AF of water. Over one-half of these
storage rights cannot be filled due to either safety restrictions (approximately 360 AF), and the reservoirs
were originally constructed smaller than the fully decreed storage right (120 AF). A hydrology study,
completed in 2006, indicates there is enough water in the watershed to fill these rights four times.

This grant will assist the Company with engineering work related to a dam break, hydrology and spillway
sizing analysis of Reservoir No. 5. This is needed in order to maintain the low hazard classification of two of
the Company’s upstream reservoirs (Reservoir No. 1 and No. 2). A feasibility study performed in May 2006
(rev. Nov. 2006) identified excessive environmental and financial costs associated with upgrading Reservoirs
Nos. 1 and 2 to meet SEO specifications. These upgrades would require several acres of deforestation, Forest
Service access trails would be significantly impacted due to construction traffic.

The spillway analysis of Reservoir No. 5 will likely indicate the need for an enlarged spillway. The spillway
enlargement would likely be due to the cascading effect of a dam break of Reservoirs No. 1 or No. 2. The
cost of construction of a new spillway for Reservoir No. 5 is estimated to be significantly cheaper than
rehabilitating the upstream reservoirs. Without improvements to the upstream reservoirs or enlarging the
spillway of Reservoir No. 5, a fill restriction will be executed by the SEO due to safety concerns.

The analysis must be completed by Dec. 31, 2007 as required by the State Engineers Office. The grant will
also include funding for 404 permitting, wetlands delineation, biological evaluations, a management
indicator species study, and processing a Special Use Permit application for the construction activity.

A breakdown of the cost of the work is as follows:
1