C150259 Feasibility Study - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I District to store their entitled amount of water in Empire Reservoir. This project is intended to repair the reservoir to meet the State of Colorado Dam Safety Requirements and also lift the current fill restriction that has been mandated by the State Engineer's Office of Dam Safety. The project will have no significant physical impacts once construction is complete. Institutional Considerations This project is subject to review and approval by the State of Colorado, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources, Office of the State Engineer, Dam Safety Division. Rule 6 of the Rules and Regulations for Dam Safety and Dam Construction titled Requirements for Alternation, Modification, or Repair of an Existing Dam apply to this project. Approval of the proposed repair of the dam is required as stated above in order to implement the project. Financial Plan The company is requesting a loan of $2,385,000 (90% of total estimated project cost). The total project cost including engineering expenses, administration, and construction is estimated at $2,650,000. This does include some contingency and is based on funding all three phases of the project that will occur in the next 3 years. The dam rehabilitation project will be funded through a project specific special assessment. The assessment is based on the 19,176.84 acres of irrigated lands under the Bijou Irrigation Company. The company currently has an assessment of $19.56 per acre to cover existing loans, 0 & M, Administrative expenses and other operating expenses such as legal and engineering work. The spread sheet analysis included in Appendix D indicates that an assessment of $6.00 per acre is necessary to repay a CWCB loan of $2,650,000 at the current interest rate of 2.25%. This analysis considers escrowing 10% of the annual loan repayment for 10 years. The company has other outstanding loans that are also being funded by special assessments as well as normal assessments for company operations. Adding all existing assessments plus this new project assessment equates to a total company assessment of $25.56 per irrigated acre. The project diverts an annual average of 50,970 acre-feet of water through the Empire system. This would equate to a cost of $9.62 per acre-foot for the cost of delivering water in the system. Based on a market comparison to other water supplies, this is a very economic agricultural water supply. Colorado- Big Thompson water on the rental market has been going for around $25 per acre-foot in normal years. Proiect Photoe:raDhs Empire Reservoir East Embankment Dam, Water Division 1 DAMID 010728 Page 6