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It is important to note a key competitive advantage that makes the use of alternative <br />agricultural transfer techniques feasible for meeting Denver metro area demands. The <br />FRICO system is situated such that it can wheel water to numerous water providers in <br />Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, and Weld Counties. FRICO <br />infrastructure currently exists to physically provide water to many providers with little or no <br />additional infrastructure. In addition, the use of exchanges can provide additional supplies to <br />many other providers. <br />FRICO has recently completed aditch-wide analysis of the Barr Division and is currently <br />adjudicating this change in Water Court. See the attached engineering report for additional <br />information on the FRICO system and the Barr Division ditch-wide change case application. <br />FRICO also has an existing application for aditch-wide change of the Milton Division and <br />has conducted extensive engineering analyses on water supplies, irrigated acres, cropping, <br />return flows, and water demands in both divisions. FRICO has also developed a <br />groundwater model of the Beebe Draw alluvium. FRICO has invested over $750,000 in <br />these analyses and model and all are directly relevant to this project. Please see the attached <br />engineering report for additional detail. <br />A summary of the applicant's scope of work is below: <br />Task 1-Survey of FRICO Barr and Milton Shareholders <br />Task 2-Survey of M & I Providers <br />Task 3-Shared Water Bank Structure <br />Task 4-Engineering Analysis of Alternative Transfer Mechanics <br />Task 5-Water Administration Challenges <br />Task 6-Legal Analysis (no grant funding) <br />Task 7-Summary Report <br />Discussion: <br />The Applicant did a good job describing how the FRICO system is ideal to investigate for <br />potential municipal and agricultural arrangements due to the system's proximity to the <br />Denver metro area, the network of infrastructure available to "wheel" the water to numerous <br />municipalities with little or no infrastructure improvements and the ability to maintain the <br />production of important agricultural lands near an urban area. <br />The application states that the project will evaluate the potential effectiveness of a variety of <br />alternatives including: rotational fallowing, interruptible supply agreements, lease back <br />agreements and changes in cropping patterns. It is unclear from the application and/or the <br />scope of work how the applicant intends to evaluate these alternatives. It appears that most <br />