20b

• Board Meeting Date: 9/18/2007
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

- 32 -

DOLORES RIVER DIALOGUE: Several DRD representatives gave a presentation on the
DRD's work on the Dolores River below McPhee Reservoir at the Ecological Flow Management
Workshop on August 1-2 in Boulder. The workshop was sponsored by The Nature Conservancy
("TNC") and the US. Bureau of Reclamation to bring together diverse project groups, including
water users, Reclamation managers, and conservation interests, to share water management
lessons from Reclamation projects from around the West. Other workshop presentations
addressed the South ForklPalisades Project, Green RiverIFlaming Gorge, and operational goals
and constraints for single and multi dam project and specific river basins. The DRD's
presentation was well-received and generated a lively discussion with workshop attendees.

TACOMA POWER PLANT RELICENSING UPDATE: The Public Service Company of
Colorado d/b/a Xcel Energy is in the process of relicensing its Tacoma Hydroelectric Project
before FERC. The Tacoma Project is located on Cascade Creek and the Animas River just north
of Durango. Xcel owns the water rights to diveli the flows of Cascade Creek into a conduit that
then delivers those flows to the Little Cascade Creek watershed, and hence into Electra Lake.
From Electra Lake, the water is diverted into a penstock to the Tacoma Powerhouse in the
Animas River canyon. The relicensing process, which started in Jul6' 2004, is scheduled for
completion in February 2010. The Tacoma Plant celebrated its 100tl anniversary in 2006 and is
one of the oldest power plants in the nation.

Xcel believes that the MOU between the USFS and the State of Colorado dated April 2004 could
playa major role in the relicensing process, and has asked the state to actively participate in the
process. Based upon informal discussions between CWCB staff and USFS staff about this
matter, CWCB staff believes that it may be feasible to address flow needs through the ISF
Program rather than through federal imposition of bypass flow requirements. The instream flow
assessment pOliion of the study was issued on July 9, 2007.

On August 31,2007, FERC issued a Determination on Requests for Additional Studies for the
Tacoma Hydroelectric Project that requires Xcel to file an addendum to the Cascade Creek
instream flow study repOli that shall contain (1) a table of bypass flows considered in the
instream flow analysis and the projected average annual energy production associated with
providing these flows; and (2) an explanation of how the flows would be released and whether
and to what extent modifications would be necessary to provide the flows. FERC also is
requiring Xcel to (1) generate a synthetic flow record for the Canyon Creek diversion site; and
(2) provide a detailed description of the operation of the diversion structure, including an
estimate of the specific months in which diversion events would likely occur, an estimate of the
typical duration of a diversion event, and the estimated frequency of flow diversion events on a
monthly basis. Finally, FERC is requiring Xcel to provide a detailed explanation of why the
diversion structure is needed for project purposes in light of the Forest Service's contention that
Xcel has not operated the diversion structure for the past six years. CWCB staff will continue to
work with the interested parties on proceeding as contemplated in the MOU

NEW MEXICO AND CWCB CLOUD SEEDING AGREEMENT: CWCB staff Randy
Seaholm, Joe Busto, and Ted Kowalski have been working with the AGO and the New Mexico
Interstate Stream Commission to execute a state-to-state agreement that models the Colorado
River Seven Basin States cloud seeding agreements. If executed will provide a $43,000 grant

Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Finance. Sn-eam and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning