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3.10 <br />purposes as releases from Ruedi Reservoir. Pursuant to Senate Document 80, <br />releases are made from Green Mountain to make up natural flow shortages in the <br />Colorado River. The shortage is determined at the Dotsero gaging station under <br />the assumption that if shortages are met at that location then water rights <br />downstream will be met with the addition of flows from the Roaring Fork River. <br />Large conditional rights on the Colorado River are located between Glenwood <br />Springs and the Grand Valley. These rights are for municipal, domestic, and <br />industrial purposes, primarily related to future industrial development. The <br />largest 12 conditional rights are held by the oil shale industry and total about <br />831,100 AF per year (1,150 cfs). Numerous studies have been made to determine <br />the future water demand of the Colorado River as it relates to oil shale <br />development. The estimated degree of development of conditional rights which <br />would take place in response to domestic and industrial growth varies from less <br />than five percent for a very limited growth scenario to 65 percent with very <br />large-scale growth (Rice et al., 1982, and Colorado Department of Natural <br />Resources, 1981). 44ith approximately one-half of the conditional rights being <br />developed in the future, an increased demand of 433,600 AF per year (600 cfs) <br />would result. This level of demand was assumed to be a conservative estimate <br />of future demand for the Ruedi Reservoir operational studies. <br />Based on past requests for water from Ruedi Reservoir, 19,500 AF of the <br />demand will be for municipal and domestic purposes. The remaining requests, <br />representing future water demand by industry, are 56,800 AF per year. Demand <br />patterns given by municipalities requesting water show that the demand for water <br />will vary over the year for municipal and domestic use. These patterns were used <br />to develop a weighted municipal and domestic water demand pattern. Industrial <br />demand was assumed to be constant during the year. Table 3.5 shows the demand <br />patterns which were used in scheduling water releases from Ruedi Reservoir. <br />3.3 Aquatic Biology <br />3.3.1 Physical/Chemical Characteristics and Habitat Features <br />A brief discussion of the physical and chemical characteristics of Ruedi <br />Reservoir is provided below. The reservoir, which is aligned in an east-west <br />direction, is about five miles in length, 0.2 to 0.8 miles in width, and has a <br />full surface area of 997 acres. The volume of the reservoir is usually at or <br />Just below maximum capacity of 102,400 AF in the summer, while minimum volumes <br />ranging between 50,000 and 80,000 AF usually occur in the winter. The maximum