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since 2003 to either replace the pipes in that location with a larger single pipe or add a third one comparable to the two already installed to increase the capacity. This project was delayed pending the final settlement of the National Park Service's claim against the Company for damages caused by the breach. That settlement was agreed upon and executed in May, 2008. The Company has retained an engineer to design the final permanent solution contemplated in this application. We intend to move forward with this project in the summer or fall of 2009. Grand River Ditch at Windv Point Pipe Project -- Alternatives Considered. 1. No action alternative. The Company quickly dismissed a "no action" alternative as it would probably means surrendering a portion of its adjudicated water right for the Grand River Ditch. 2. Tunnel Alternative. It is possible that the Windy Point section of the Grand River Ditch which breached could be abandoned by constructing a tunnel by-pass through the brow of the ridge which comprises Windy Point itself. We have estimated that the bore would be about ~ mile long. Assuming a ten foot bore diameter, the amount of material removed, with a 30% swell factor, is about 5,000 cubic yards. The president of the Company contacted a tunneling contractor who informally estimated the cost to do the project at $5 to $6 million dollars. It is a difficult work site for several reasons, all of which complicate the prospect of boring a tunnel. The tunnel lies at 10,200 feet elevation, the ditch is located on a steep mountainside with little area for staging and mobilization and operations. The nearest power grid is more than 20 miles away. The site is located in Rocky Mountain National Park and adjacent to Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest. There are no suitable areas nearby for wasting the estimated 5000 yards of material excavated. The Park Service has prohibitions against wasting the material within the Park itself. Certainly a full environmental impact study (which would probably take 2 to 5 years to complete) would have to be prepared without any assurance of a supportive result from both the Park Service and Forest Service. There is no suitable housing for the work force within many miles of the Park boundary on the Poudre Canyon approach and no suitable alternative within the Park or Forest nearby. The access from the floor of the Kawuneeche Valley via the Holzworth Ranch Road near the north end of the ditch is not suitable as an alternative access for many of the same reasons. Because of the impacts of the construction, including impacts at the work site, the environmental impacts of additional traffic in and out of the Forest and Park (noise, dust, wildlife impacts, etc. etc.) and the need to waste the removed material many miles away, the notion of a tunnel solution was quickly deemed too expensive, impractical and infeasible, if it would have ever been approved. 3. A Third Pipe. The Company is considering two other alternatives, one of which will be the preferred alternative. The first alternative would have a new trench opened immediately adjacent to the two temporary pipes installed in 2003 and to facilitate the installation of a third pipe. That pipe would be identical to the two pipes installed previously and would increase the capacity of the system through the breach zone by 50%. Because the first two pipes were installed on a rock bench created by the contractor in the mountainside, the addition of a new pipe inboard of the other two would require widening the bench WSSC - GRD at Windy Pt & Kluver/Travis Rd Projects 9 December 2008