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<br />Need for the Project <br /> <br />Bijou is undertaking repairs to their headgate river diversion <br />structure to ensure that it can continue to divert water from the <br />South Platte River. The current facility has two major <br />components. They are the ditch intake and the river diversion <br />structure. The ditch intake is a concrete structure using five <br />steel radial gates for adjusting flows into the Bijou canal. This <br />structure is in good condition and has suffered only minimal <br />damage due to times of high flow in the river. The river <br />diversion, which uses a radial gate, a slide gate and a board <br />system to divert flow into the ditch, has suffered extreme damage <br />due to times of high flow in the river. This structure has lost <br />its effectiveness due to the large amount of sand that has <br />accumulated upstream from the diversion. The current structure <br />can not be operated in a manor to reduce the sand upstream of the <br />intake gates. The sand bar causes excessive amount of sand to be <br />drawn into the inlet canal and hampers diversions into the inlet. <br />This problem will continue to occur unless the river diversion is <br />changed in some dramatic fashion. The existing river diversion <br />also has a problem with debris, mainly trees, hanging up on the <br />structure causing continual maintenance issues. Photos of the <br />existing structures can be found in Appendix c. <br /> <br />Alternatives Evaluated <br /> <br />A range of alternatives were considered including 1) don't build <br />the project, 2) do remedial work only to the extent that the <br />diversion is put back into normal operation until damage occurs <br />again, 3) replace 96 feet of the river diversion structure with a <br />new bladder gate system, and 4) replace 192 feet of the river <br />diversion structure with a new bladder gate system. <br /> <br />An evaluation of the alternatives follows: <br /> <br />1. Don't build the project: <br /> <br />If this project were not pursued, Bijou would eventually be <br />unable to divert water into the Bijou canal. This would be <br />an annual loss of approximately 47,460 acre feet of water. <br />This event, if it occurred, could lead to a major loss of <br />crops under the Bijou system. The per acre value of farm <br />ground in the Bijou system could potentially drop <br />significantly. This alternative is not acceptable to Bijou. <br /> <br />Feasibility Study <br />Bijou Irrigation Company <br />Diversion Structure <br />June 2007 <br /> <br />2 <br />