C153644 Final Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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WATER SUPPLY The City of Delta owns Big Battlement Reservoir and the adjacent Little Battlement Reservoir. There is essentially no drainage area above the reservoir; the reservoir surface is the drainage area. The reservoir is filled from excess water from upstream reservoirs, conveyed through ditches and primarily from overflow from Little Battlement which is constantly filled by a large spring. The reservoirs in the system fill each year except in the driest periods. The capacity of the reconstructed reservoir will be about 816 acre-feet; the restricted volume is 257 acre-feet. Presently the City of Delta sells the water stored in the reservoirs to irrigators around Cedaredge. The City water supply is provided by "Project 7", a municipal water system in the Uncompahgre Valley; which will be adequate for about 20 years. In the long term the City plans to obtain water from the Battlement Reservoirs for municipal water. In the short term, the City has an agreement with a hydropower company to sell Big Battlement Reservoir water for hydropower productian by releasing water from the reservoir into a penstock and then dropped through a power plant. After release through the power plant, the City is attempting to negotiate with an aquaculture company to purchase the water for fish rearing. The hydropower plan includes reconstructing Big Battlement so that the storage capacity is available to release water in the late summer. The City can either repair Big Battlement themselves and receive greater revenue from the hydropower production or the hydropower company will reconstruct the dam with reduced revenues to the City. RESERVOIR An elevation-area-capacity for the reservoir is included in Table 1. The inlet to the outlet pipe is presently at relative elevation 100 feet; the existing crest is at relative elevation 124.1 feet over the outlet pipe. The reconstructed reservoir is assumed to have the same elevations for the outlet pipe and the crest, however, detailed surveys should be performed to determine if the dam can be raised to 127 or 128 feet for a small increase in storage. The reservoir is presently restricted to relative elevation 108 feet (gage height 8), which is 257.3 acre-feet. With repairs, the capacity of the reservoir would be at least 816.8 acre-feet. The additional yield from the reconstructed reservoir is assumed to be 559 acre-feet, the difference between the potential capacity and the restricted capacity. Big Battlement Dam 5