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Feasibility Evaluation of the Arkansas Valley Pipeline Water Works! Committee June 2003 Section 1 -Introduction 1.1 Purpose and Need The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of designing and constructing a water transmission pipeline (Arkansas Valley Pipeline) to supply water from Pueblo Reservoir to municipalities and water providers in the counties along the Arkansas River, from east of Pueblo Reservoir to Lamar, Colorado. The feasibility evaluation is based on: • Estimation of water needs for public and private water suppliers in the project area. • Hydraulic analyses to estimate required pipeline sizes. • Identification and evaluation of preferred pipeline alignments. • Identification and evaluation of water treatment alternatives. • Estimation of the cost to construct, operate, and maintain water supply and treatment facilities for a range of alternatives. • Evaluation of financing capabilities and options to support a pipeline project. • Identification and evaluation of alternative institutional frameworks suitable to constructing, operating, and maintaining the water supply facilities. • Development of recommendations. The need for this project is driven by projected population growth, the economically- disadvantaged nature of the lower Arkansas River valley, and increasingly costly water treatment requirements being experienced by certain water providers in the basin. The increasing cost of water treatment is a result of the poor quality of locally available groundwater and increasingly stringent requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The local groundwater available from the Arkansas River alluvium has historically been high in total dissolved solids (TDS), sulfates, and calcium, and has objectionable concentrations of iron and manganese. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), in their most recent (February 2002) report on the status of water quality in Colorado, states: The Lower Arkansas River in Colorado is the most saline stream of its size in the U.S. The average salinity levels increase from 300 parts per million (ppm) TDS east of Pueblo to over 4,000 ppm near the Kansas state line. The shallow alluvial groundwater along the River has similar salinity. The results of CDPHE-sponsored sampling of the Lower Arkansas River alluvial aquifer (July to December 1994) showed that 19 of 139 wells contained nitrate levels above 10 mg/1 GEI Consultants, Inc. 01284 03-06-30 Feasibility Evaluation Final