South Platte - Halligan Seaman_Water Activity Summary

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Funding from the WSRA will focus on one component of the SVP process; the development of the SVP model. The model will be build collaboratively to allow evaluation of alternatives to see how well they meet the consumptive and non-consumptive needs. SVP uses traditional US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) planning principles but modifies them to include earlier and more intensive collaboration with wide variety of stakeholders to: • Build a team and identify problems with stakeholders, decision-makers, and experts. • Develop objectives & metrics for evaluation that may differ from national objectives and metrics • Describe and agree upon the status quo using a collaboratively built model • Collaboratively formulate alternative reservoir operations using the model • Collaboratively evaluate alternatives and identify tradeoffs using the model • Develop team recommendations • Implement and institutionalize the team's recommended plan • Exercise and update the plan. This SVP effort is proposed to improve stream flows in the North Fork and mainstem of Cache la Poudre River above the confluence with the North Fork. The SVP work is related to the ongoing review of two Section 404 permits to expand storage at two existing reservoirs on the North Fork to provide the water supply needed for future population growth and some agricultural production. The HSWMP applicants' preferred alternatives in those permit applications are the expansion of Halligan Reservoir in 2010 and the expansion of Seaman Reservoir in 2030, along with operating rules designed to use those expansions to meet needs not met by other parts of the applicants' water supply systems. The SVP study will consider only sub-alternatives that avoid or minimize negative environmental impacts from the applicants' prefered alternatives. The overall SVP process will be carried out from July 2008 to December 2009; the SVP model component will be completed by spring 2009. The SVP process will consist of a few iterations of the seven steps in shared vision planning trained through three workshops; an organizing workshop in the summer of 2008, a second workshop in the spring of 2009 to review and rank alternatives following development of the SVP model and running of scenarios and alternatives through the model, and a final workshop in the late fall of 2009 to formalize the selection of the best alternative. Threshohl and Evallratiosi Criteria The application articulates how the project meets all four Threshold Criteria. The application articulates how the project meets each of the Evaluation Criteria. This water activity does an outstanding job of meeting the following Evaluation Criteria: Meeting Water Management Goals and Objectives and Identified Water Needs i) This water activity will help to implement an Identified Project and Process from SWSI I and H and will address both consumptive and non-consumptive needs on the Northern front range and in the Poudre River watershed. Because this is a unique approach to project permitting that the Cities have agreed voluntarily to undertake, it is not fully funded from other sources, and the funding from the Water Supply Reserve Account will be integral to full participation and successful completion of the effort. 2