Minutes Dec 2007 CBRT

• Basin Roundtable: Colorado
• Title: Colorado basin December 07 Minutes
• Date: 12/17/2007
• Basin Roundtables - Doc Type: Minutes

worried that Policy 18 would benefit the East Slope more. Eric Wilkinson, Nothern's
General Manager, mentioned that the legislature oversees the CWCB, and questioned
whether this would allay the CBRT members concerns about partisan application of Policy
18.
f. Examples of other water acquisitions by the CWCB. The CWCB purchased water from
Elldiead Reservoir which is situated on a tributary of the Yampa River to be used for the
Endangered Species Recovery Program. Colorado was obliged to make the purchase.
Wolford Mountain Reservoir also has loaned water to the CWCB for endangered species
protection.
8. Discussion of Preferred Storage Option Plan (PSOP)
a. Fryingpan-Arkansas project history. Chris Treese of the Colorado River Water Conservation
District explained that the Fry-Ark project was a federal project administered in the 1960s to
transfer water to Arkansas basin irrigators and agricultural interests. The northern collection
system diverts water from Ivanhoe Lake on the Fryingpan River and the southern collection
system diverts water from Hunter Creek; both collection systems divert water to Turquoise
Lake west of Leadville. Another series of tuiulels captures water from New York Creek into
Grizzly Reservoir and through a tuiulel to Lake Creek for delivery into Twin Lakes
Reservoirs, a private reservoir company. The Twin Lakes Reservoirs were expanded as part
of the Fry-Ark project.
b. Unused decrees. Chris Treese explained that the Twin Lakes Reservoir Company is entitled
to divert 19,000 more acre feet than it is currently diverting from the West Slope, as a result
of its 1960s agreement with the federal government,. The Fry-Ark Project is entitled to
divert 69,000 acre feet but currently only diverts about 54,000 acre feet due to limited tunnel
and reservoir capacity on the East Slope. Treese stated that east slope diversions are
currently fully utilized only in wet years, or about 1 out of every 10 years on average.
Purpose of PSOP. Jim Broderick, Executive Director of the Southeastern Colorado Water
Conservancy District, stated the PSOP's purpose is to provide more storage capacity on the
Eastern Slope to fully utilize the existing diversion decrees. 200 different stakeholders have
spent 4 years looking at 40 different projects, and winnowed them down to three. PSOP has
3 phases:
Phase 1: Secure authority for enlarging the Fry-Ark reservoirs; allow non-Fry-Ark project
water to be stored at Fry-Ark reservoirs; provide credit to the Eastern Slope for winter spills
of Fry-Ark project water; and establish minimum flows of 100 cfs out of the Pueblo
Reservoir.
Phase 2: Study the feasibility of increasing the Fry-Ark reservoir storage capacity at Pueblo
Reservoir by 75,000 AF, and at Turquoise Lake by 19,000 AF. Front Range interests have
requested that Senator Jolu1 Salazar carry a bill to authorize this feasibility study, which is
expected to cost $8 million. Colorado's US legislators asked the Southeastern Colorado
Water Conservancy District to first sign contracts for the additional capacity, and those
contracts are now being let out. Mike McHugh of Aurora expects to see a bill forthcoming.
Colorado's Federal legislators suggested that the feasibility study assume that only existing
dams would be used, no new dams would be constn~cted, and that there would be no impact
on other basins.
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