Division 1 Annual Report 1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Greeley, Fort Collins, and Loveland and flooded low level farm ground and stnactures adjacent to the rivers. The significant amount of precipitation toward the end of the April not only inrreased snowpack, but also bank storage alang the South Platte basin. This bank storage helped to maintain flows during the summer. The snowpack, riverbank storage and existing reservoir storage removed significant concem that there would be below average flouv in the South Platte basin creating shortfalls ini supply to some users. Because of the wet conditions, there were no calls during May downstream of Denver'. Many years, there is a call in May as demand for irrigation increases prior to runoff. Spinney Mountain Reservoir filled in the early part of June. Spinney Mountain Reservoir is the last mainstem reservoir to fill and it only fills when there are significant water supplies in South Park. The flow in the South Platte began to drop toward the end of June as snow runoff curtailed and the demand in the river increased for irrigation. Flows in the South Platte and its tribu$aries continued above average through out the basin during July. There was no call at all on the South Platte the first eight days of July, which is fairly unusual. The most senior call during the month was a Burlington bypass to the VVestem Canal with an 11-20-1885 date. This is a very junior call for July reflecting the excellent river conditions. Wdespread rainstorms toward the end of the July removed the call completely. The flow in the tributaries and rriainstem continued at above average levels in the South Platte during August This flow allowed all water rights on the South Platte to be filled without a call. This is very rare in August as usually many water users are depending upon storage to meet their demand in August. The only negative were some late seasori storms that damaged crops in some areas prior to their hanrest and low crop prices which continue to hurt farming profitability. With much higher than average flow on the mainstem and tributaries, there were aiso no calls downstream of Denver intake in September. Because of the continued excellent flow conditions, significant amounts of recharge occurred in September along the mainstem. In many years, recharge does not even start until the end of September because imgation demand still exceeds river supply. During 1999, recharge was allowed most of the summer which will provide excellent augmentation supplies in 2000. With the end of the irrigation season, diversions continued primarily for storage, recharge, and municipal purposes. Based on present above average flow conditions, above average end of season storage, and recharge that occurred, initial prospects for next year's water supply are excellent. Dam Safetv T he dam safety branch in Greeley is staffed with foar engineers to perfoRn periodic dam inspections. Under the current "1-2-6" program approximately 270 dams are to be inspected each year. All Class I dams are inspected annually, Class II dams inspected every other year, and Class III dams every six years. Last year 266 dams received periodic safety inspections. Another 101 site visits were conducted as part of follow-up activities either to assist the dam owner or to check on changing conditions or repairs. Construction oversight activities resulted in 18 construction inspections. Staff performed 18 outlet inspections using the SLED mounted camera device. The target date for having the outlets of all Class I and Class II dams inspected was December 1998, however continuing problems with camera equipment has hindered progress. The hydrologic review of spillways is essentially complete for Class 1 and Class 2 dams. Due dates have arrived for completion of improvements for the more seriousiy inadequate dams, and staff is in the process of addressing this next phase for correcting spillway deficiencies. Plans to breach one Class 2