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The WSSC System is within the boundaries of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy <br />District (NCWCD). C-BT water can be delivered directly to the Larimer County Canal <br />headgate. In 1986, WSSC owned 61 units of C-BT water. Individual ownership of C-BT water <br />under the Larimer County Canal has ranged from 5,500 to 19,000 units of C-BT water. The <br />amount of C-BT water owned by individuals under the WSSC System has dropped significantly <br />over the last 20 years. <br />Administration <br />Administration of the water rights associated with WSSC involves interaction with the Water <br />District 3 Water Commissioner. Storage rights in the Cache la Poudre basin are generally senior <br />to the downstream storage rights on the South Platte River and are therefore able to divert, in <br />priority, with respect to other active Cache la Poudre winter diversions. In normal years, calls <br />from the South Platte do not affect administration in Water District 3, as water rights in the <br />Cache la Poudre basin are generally senior to South Platte River water rights. <br />Releases from Long Draw Reservoir and Chambers Lake are officially charged a delivery loss of <br />1/10th of 1 percent per mile. For ease of administration, this delivery loss is approximated as a <br />flat 5 percent of total release. <br />Chambers Lake is one of three reservoirs affected by the Joint Operations Plan (JOP). Details of <br />the JOP are presented in the SPDSS Task 3 -Identify Key Diversion Structures, Notes from <br />Water District 3 Meeting memorandum. <br />OPERATIONAL INFORMATION <br />WSSC diverts water to satisfy the crop demand associated with lands irrigated under the Larimer <br />County Canal. As discussed above, WSSC satisfies this demand from a number of different <br />diversion structures and storage units. In the SPDSS modeling effort, WSSC's total demand will <br />be modeled at the Larimer County Canal headgate which is able to receive water from the <br />various System infrastructure components subject to the physical limitations (e.g., headgate <br />capacity, canal capacity, storage capacity) and legal limits (i.e., water rights) previously <br />presented for those components. <br />WSSC is operated as a mutual ditch company, where each share is considered equal. Water <br />entitlement under WSSC is based on share ownership of Company stock. There are a total of <br />600 Company stock shares in WSSC. WSSC shares are often traded and moved throughout the <br />canal and lateral system. One share of WSSC water is equivalent to approximately 0.677 cfs at <br />the farm lateral headgate on days that deliveries are made. The annual water entitlement is <br />dependent on the number of days water is delivered to share holders. During an average year, <br />water is typically delivered five days a week throughout the irrigation season (April 1 to October <br />31). In a drought year, the days of delivery average closer to 4 days per week of delivery. In a <br />1990 report prepared by Rocky Mountain Consultants in support of the City of Thornton's <br />change of use case for shares in WSSC, the Larimer County Canal average annual diversions <br />WaterSupply&Storage Memo.doc <br />16 of 21 <br />