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<br />Water Supply Reserve Account – Grant and Loan Program <br />Water Activity Summary Sheet <br /> <br /> <br />Applicant: <br /> Orchard City <br />Amount Requested: <br /> $480,000 <br />Water Activity Name: <br /> Orchard City Reservoir Project <br />Source of Funds: <br /> Statewide Account (Applicant received $60,000 from Basin Account in May 2007) <br />Water Activity Purpose: <br /> Analysis of Structural Water Project: The application is for assistance in <br />completing design for and off channel reservoir to serve the municipal/domestic needs of Orchard City. <br />Matching Funds: <br /> Yes, $678,000 <br />County: <br /> Delta <br />Drainage Basin: <br />North Fork Gunnison River <br />Water Source: <br /> Surface and Ward Creeks <br /> <br />Water Activity Summary: <br />The drought of recent years, reaching a drastic levels in 2002, forced an ongoing examination by the Town <br />of Orchard City of its water rights, (both in quantity and type) storage, collection and delivery system to its <br />treatment plant. This has brought to light several serious deficiencies and dangerous weaknesses in the <br />system. <br /> <br />The number one problem is that virtually all of the rights are flow rights and the vast majorities are still <br />classified as agricultural irrigation water. As such they are only available from mid-April to the end of <br />October during the irrigation system. The bulk of these rights are located in the Surface Creek drainage of <br />the south slope of the Grand Mesa, while the Orchard City treatment plant is located to the west in the Ward <br />Creek drainage. In order to utilize these involves a complicated "paper" trade and exchange process that <br />leaves the Town at the mercy of those water owners who hold rights that can be gotten to the treatment plant. <br />This dramatically' reduces the amount and value of the Town’s back up supplies. <br /> <br />The Town's primary source of water are decrees on the Lake Fork flow, which have been classified as <br />municipal, but are not the majority of that decree and are junior to many of the larger holders of that <br />irrigation decree. This flow decree is available year around through a collection pipeline network that taps <br />directly into springs. However, there are no storage rights, or any place to store this water if rights are sought <br />when there is excess available during the winter months. The Town's other major source of water, already <br />classified municipal, is one share of Alfalfa Ditch which is the number one decree on Grand Mesa. Because <br />of recent filings to make permanent the above mentioned exchanges this will now be available year around <br />via the Big Ditch. <br /> <br />With this and the Lake Fork degree, during average or above water years this would provide approximately <br />4.5 cubic feet per second of water at the treatment plant. The present plant has a capacity of 3 second feet, <br />but plans are already' being made to double capacity for the growth the Town is experiencing. However, <br />since this is all flow water, in below average or in drought years, this can dwindle rapidly. In 2002 the total <br />of this flow dropped to a combined one-half cubic foot. Because the Town's other waters are mainly <br /> 1 <br /> <br />