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<br />Water year deliveries to the St. Vrain Supply Canal totaled 62,790 acre-feet, well below the 30-year <br />average of 67,51 0 acre-feet. <br /> <br />Flatiron Unit 3 did not generate during the months of August and September. Unit 3 used a total of <br />only 555 acre-feet for power generation during water year 1997. <br /> <br />A total of 89,500 acre-feet of water was pumped into Carter Lake during the water year 1997, <br />which was 115 percent of the 30-year average. This activity required a total of 29,100,000 kilowatt- <br />hours of energy. <br /> <br />Horsetooth Reservoir <br /> <br />Completed in 1949, with four dams, Horsetooth Reservoir has a total constructed capacity of <br />156,700 acre-feet. Inflow of Project water is from Flatiron Reservoir via the Charles Hansen <br />Feeder Canal. <br /> <br />Horsetooth Reservoir storage of 122,313 acre-feet at the start of water year 1997 was 43,503 acre- <br />feet above the 1966-1995 average of 78,810 acre-feet. <br /> <br />Normal transfer of water to Horsetooth Reservoir continued throughout the water year 1997. <br />Irrigation deliveries also continued throughout the water year, with the highest releases being <br />made between May and September of 1997. A total of 24,400 acre-feet was deli vered in May; in <br />June, 3,900 acre-feet; in July, 25,800 acre-feet, for August, 10,300 acre-feet; and in September, <br />17,800 acre-feet. May delivery was 330 percent of the 30-year average. August delivery was <br />only 35 percent of average the 30-year average for the month. Total water delivery for the water <br />year 1997 was 92,000 acre-feet, 3,414 acre-feet below the 30-year average. <br /> <br />Horsetooth Reservoir maximum storage volume of the water year was reached on June 30, a total <br />volume of 151,360 acre-feet, with a water surface elevation of 5,427.97 feet. Horsetooth Reservoir <br />finished the water year with 124,283 acre-feet of water in storage, which was 158 percent of the 30- <br />year average and the highest end of water year storage content in 47 years of records. With the <br />relatively wet spring, water flow through the Adams Tunnel was kept relatively high during the late <br />spring and early summer. In the mean time, flows along the Big Thompson River also remained <br />relatively high. With the Olympus Tunnel at full capacity, carrying water from the western slope, <br />only 1,200 acre-feet of native east slope water were diverted and stored at Horsetooth Reservoir. <br />Most of the water taken from the Big Thompson River and diverted through the Olympus Tunnel <br />was returned back to the river. The actual operations for the Colorado-Big Thompson Project for <br />water year 1997 are summarized in Table 3. <br /> <br />Flood Benefits <br /> <br />Precipitation in the upper Colorado River basin was above average for most of the water year 1997. <br />Measurable precipitation during March was low, while the month of May brought significant <br />rainfall to the area. Aside from a few periods of low precipitation, most of the year was relatively <br /> <br />]5 <br />