PROJ01934 ‎(2)‎

• Contract/PO #: C153471
• Contractor Name: Frederick, Town of
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 0
• County: Weld
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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The currently projected average annual water use volume plus the evaporative loss volume from Milavec Lake
is estimated to be approximately 450 acre-feet. Assuming Milavec Lake fills every year to the spillway crest,
the release or loss of 450 acre-feet per year would result in a minimum reservoir elevation of 4742.8 feet
(approximately seven feet of draw down). If the reliability of the existing water right or if additional areas are
to be irrigated then additional water rights may need to be acquired by the Town.
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5.0 WATER RIGHTS t.. ~. .., 1- ~ .. c.. _*,..{

Lower Boulder Extension Reservoir is the legal name for the storage decree that has historically been used to
fill what is now known as MiIavec Lake. The Lower Boulder Extension Reservoir decree was adjudicated
March 13, 1907, with an appropriation date of February I, 1892, in the amount of768 acre-feel A 1982 ":
agreement between the Town ofFre>k~k, the City of Boulder and the District 6 Water Users Association, J'
stipulated that Frederick could store\Z46'1cre-feet of water under the priority awarded with the original '\ J.,J~: ~ ~
decree. The remaining 221.5 acre-feetuf storage water was subordinated to all absolute storage decrees for , 1 ~\ "
reservoirs on Boulder Creek located upstream from the headgate of the Lower Boulder Ditch, plus two \0
conditional decrees (park Reservoir decreed April 12, 1978 and Bradley Ranch Reservoir decreed March 20 ',,0 '
V"",^V\.A ,
1980) owned by the City of Boulder. .
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Milavec Lake is filled via the Lower Boulder Ditch and the Leyton Lateral. RMC estimated the capacity of l.,\AJv,-
Milavec Lake to be 775 acre-feet in 1978. The SEO has estimated the lake surface to be 65 acres at the high
water line (elevation 4949.75 feet).

Milavec Lake historically filled in late April and early May under the Lower Boulder Extension
Reservoir storage decree. According to the plant operator3, the storage decree has allowed the reservoir to fill
every year, even during the dry years in the 1970's. Thus, the storage right is~ terms of yield in
average, as well as dry years.

The average year and dry year yield of the Milavec Lake storage right was estimated to be 450 acre-feet in the
1986 RMC Feasibility Study. This yield was based on the usable capacity of Milavec Lake being limited to
450 acre-feet due to operational constraints.

Potential water supplies that_c?l!!d be acquired to fill Milavec Lake include:

~ Consolidated Lower Boulder Reservoir and Ditch Company preferred shares (average yield per share
of 46.9 acre-feet),
~ Consolidated Lower Boulder Reservoir and Ditch Company common shares (average yield per share
of 9.3 acre-feet),
~ Baseline Land and Reservoir Company shares (average yield per share of 5.5 acre-feet), and
~ Other Boulder Creek water rights located upstream of the Lower Boulder Ditch headgate.

3 RMC interviewed the Town of Frederick's water treatment plant operator in 1986 as part of the 1986 Feasibility Study for
Raw and Treated Water Alternatives.

CWCB Feasibility Study for the
Milavec Lake Rehabilitation Project

- 3 -

December 2002

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