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Weldon Valley Ditch Company CWCB Construction Fund Application Part A 4. Existing Facilities The Weldon Valley Ditch was decreed in case No. 433 in the Weld County District Court, Weld County, State of Colorado, on November 21, 1895 with appropriation date of October 26, 1881 for 165 c.f.s. from the South Platte Rivcr. The decreed use is for irrigation. The decreed head gate location is on the north bank of the South Platte River in the SW'/ NW'/ SE'/4 of Section 13, Township 4 South, Range 61 West, of the 6`" P.M., Weld County, Colorado. The ditch flows eastward approximately 12 miles and terminates and returns to the river in Section 18, Township 4 North, Range 58 West, in Morgan County. The company's existing major facilities include a bladder dam at the river diversion, a flume crossing the Jackson Lake outlet, a flume crossing the Cottonwood draw, and the return flume at the terminus of the ditch. The dam was constructed in 1997, improvements and repairs made to the Jackson lake flume in 2000, and the flume at the terminus was constructed in l 999. The Cottonwood flume consists of a wooden and steel structure supporting an open top tube which is approximately 8 feet wide. The length of the flume is approximately 300 feet. The flume was constructed in 1965 after the previous structure was destroyed by flood. Several repairs to the structure have been performed over the years including replacement of some of the wooden supports with steel beams and repair to the concrete pillars. In 1991, a synthetic liner was installed to increase the useful life of the tube. The liner was partially torn and removed in 2006 and the entire liner was removed in 2007. Operation without the liner has increased the rate of rust of the tube. Replacement and installation of the liner has been quoted at over $20,000. The structure currently spans a natural drain for a large area and is always threatened by large floods through the draw. The water table in the area has been increasing and has, at times, submerged the bottom of the support pillars for several months. The wooden structure also presents the risk of damage from fire.