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proceeding. <br />SYSTEM OVERVIEW <br />The City of Aurora is currently Colorado's third largest city (measured by population) and is <br />located in parts of Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties in the eastern part of the Denver- <br />Aurora Metropolitan Area. Aurora is in portions of Water Districts 1, 2 and 8 in Water Division <br />1. Aurora was first founded as the Town of Fletcher in 1891 and relied on water from a well dug <br />by a private water company. Additional wells dug along the banks of Sand Creek were used to <br />meet the city's growing demand. As the town's demand outpaced its well capacity, Aurora <br />turned to Denver Water to supply it with water. In the 1920s, Denver Water limited the number <br />of new taps and the area served in Aurora and Aurora began its active history of pursuing its own <br />water rights/water sources as indicated below: <br />- In the 1960s, Aurora began buying irrigation water from ranches in the upper South <br />Platte River basin and transferring the consumptively used portion to municipal uses. <br />- In 1964, Aurora initiated, for municipal use, a direct flow water right in the vicinity of <br />the present Strontia Springs Reservoir. <br />- In 1967, Aurora, in partnership with Colorado Springs, completed the Homestake <br />Project, a reservoir, collection and delivery system that diverts water from Homestake <br />Creek, a tributary of the Eagle River, and delivers it to Spinney Mountain Reservoir. <br />- In 1973, Aurora initiated an appropriation for a water right for the Spinney Mountain <br />Reservoir on the Middle Fork of the South Platte River. Spinney Mountain Reservoir <br />construction was completed in 1981. <br />- Transfers of irrigation water rights in the headwaters of the South Platte Basin (South <br />Park) by Aurora continued into the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. These transfers included <br />water rights associated with ranches in the Tarryall Creek Basin and in the South <br />Platte Basin upstream of the present Spinney Mountain Reservoir. <br />- In 1986, the Water Court approved a transfer of irrigation water rights from the <br />Rocky Ford Ditch in the Arkansas River Basin to municipal use. Aurora <br />subsequently acquired those water rights. Aurora also acquired an interest in changed <br />water rights of the Colorado Canal, on the mainstem of the Arkansas River, in the <br />1980s. <br />- In the 1980s and 1990s, Aurora transferred irrigation water rights from several <br />ranches (Burroughs and Buffalo Park) in the upper Arkansas River Basin, near <br />Leadville. <br />- In the 1980s and 1990s, Aurora also purchased interests in the several transmountain <br />diversion projects (Twin Lakes Reservoir Company, Busk-Ivanhoe Project) that <br />transported water from the Colorado River to the Arkansas River Basin. <br />- Also in the 1980s and 1990s, irrigation water rights from the Last Chance Ditch, in <br />the vicinity of Chatfield Reservoir, were transferred to Aurora's municipal use. <br />- In the early 2000s, Aurora completed the transfer of additional water rights from the <br />Rocky Ford Ditch and completed the transfer of irrigation water rights from two <br />ranches (Hayden and Spurlin-Shaw) in the upper Arkansas River Basin, near <br />Leadville. <br />- In 2003, Aurora acquired water rights in South Park that had previously undergone <br />transfers to municipal use by the City of Thornton. <br />2 of 29 <br />