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SPDSS Memorandum <br />Final <br />To: Ray Alvarado and Ray Bennett <br />From: Ross Bethel, Rick Parsons, and Erin Wilson <br />Subject: Task 5 -Key Municipal User, City of Aurora <br />Date: June 13, 2006 <br />INTRODUCTION <br />One of the Task 5 objectives is to: <br />Develop and document an understanding of the operations of key water use facilities in <br />the basin in order to facilitate consumptive use modeling and to support selected data <br />needs for modeling being done by other contractors. This understanding will be <br />developed through interviews with DWR personnel, operators of large canal and <br />reservoir systems, and representatives of federal facilities. <br />Types of key water use facilities include diversion structures, transmountain diversions, <br />reservoirs, and reservoir systems. <br />• Key diversion structures, identified as part of Task 3, include structures representing 85 <br />percent of net decreed rights, structures diverting greater than 1,000 acre-feet per year (ac- <br />ft/yr), and structures of administrative importance. <br />• Key transmountain diversions, identified as part of Task 4, include those structures that <br />transport non-native water from another basin into the South Platte River basin. <br />• Key reservoirs, identified as part of Task 5, include reservoirs or reservoir systems with <br />greater than 10,000 acre-feet capacity and/or reservoirs that should be included in potential <br />future modeling efforts due to their impact on basin operations. Reservoir systems are <br />defined as a group of reservoirs on the same tributary or filled by the same diversion <br />structure that satisfy a common demand or are operated in a similar fashion. <br />A number of components in the City of Aurora System have been identified as key structures for <br />the South Platte Decision Support System (SPDSS) consumptive use and surface water modeling <br />efforts. The purpose of this Task 5 memorandum is to document physical, legal, and operational <br />aspects of those key structures. <br />The information provided in this memorandum was developed <br />from publicly accessible sources including HydroBase water <br />rights and diversion information, sources provided by Aurora, <br />general background information gained by the authors from <br />providing consulting services to Aurora, and discussions with <br />Richard Marsicek and other staff of Aurora Water. However, <br />this information should not be relied upon in any legal <br />Table of Contents Page <br />Introduction 1 <br />System Overview 2 <br />Physical Information 5 <br />Water Rights 11 <br />Operational Information 19 <br />References 22 <br />