North Platte - Walden Water Supply Improvement Project_Water Activity Summary

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Water Supply Reserve Account -Grant and Loan Program Water Activity Summary Sheet Applicant: Town of Walden Amount Requested: $385,000 Water Activity Name: Town of Walden Water Supply Improvement Project Source of Funds: North Park Basin Account Matching Funds: None specified Water Activity Purpose: Permitting and Structural Project County: Jackson County Drainage Basin: North Platte River Water Source: Michigan River Staff Recommendation Staff recommends approval of up to $385,000 from the North Platte Account to help complete the Town of Walden Water Supply Improvement Project contingent on resolution of the item in the issues/additional needs section. Water Activity Summary: The Town of Walden Water Supply Improvement Project's purpose is to enhance the Town's diversion capacity to LO cfs from a ne~y collection gallery adjacent to the Michigan River, to decree the Town's t~~-o junior municipal wells as alternate points of diversion of the Hi Ho Ditch ~~-titer right, to rehabilitate the existing dam and diversion structure in the Michigan River and to change the use of the To~~m's Walden Reservoir shares from agricultural to municipal and augmentation and obtain approval for use of these shares in a plan for augmentation. The collection galler-~- ~yould also be decreed as a new point of diversion for the senior Hi Ho Ditch from the Michigan River. The combined diversion capacity would be designed to divert the 1.0 cfs decreed to the To~yn's current surface diversion facility under the Hi Ho Ditch which has a very senior priority of 4/U188~ for the North Platte basin and never has been called out by a do~~mstream «-ater right. The current diversion structure from the river has declined in efficiency and cannot divert the 1.0 cfs ~~-titer right. It also diverts poor quality surface water in the late summer and fall that contains considerable organic material that impacts the To~~~i's ~yater treatment plant and filtering system and affects the taste of «ater. The t~yo ~~-ells are decreed for municipal use but with junior priority dates of 1934 and 199 and are out of priority in most summers. The collection gallery would provide the ability to divert up to 1.0 cfs of «-titer from the alluvium of the river and to allow natural filtering of the ~yater through the alluvial sands and gravels, improving water quality. The two wells can also be used if necessanr to divert the full 1.0 cfs and to divert water in the winter months that will be ~yarmer than the ~~-titer diverted from the stream or the collection gallery next to the stream. The To~~n had to restrict «-titer use significantly in the drought year of 2002 because water «as not physically available from the river and the ~~-ells, even though its Hi Ho Ditch right was in priority. By changing the use of the To«n's Walden Reservoir shares and obtaniing approval of a plan for augmentation, the To~~n can use this ~~-titer to augment its Hansen Park irrigation well and other wells if needed by leasing water from Walden Reservoir- to the Illinois River and the Michigan River bolo«- the confluence «ith the Illinois River. This project would enhance both the phi sical and legal reliability of the Tow7i's «-titer supply and allow it to meet its future water supply needs «ithout the concern of having to impose water use restrictions in the future.