Laserfiche WebLink
for diversion, by gravity, to the inlet of the Charles H. Boustead Tunnel. The <br />Boustead Tunnel conveys water collected by the west slope collection system <br />under the continental divide and into Turquoise Lake on the east slope. The <br />tunnel is 5 miles long and has a water conveyance capacity of 945 cubic feet per <br />second (cfs). <br />Sugarloaf Dam and Turquoise Lake are located on Lake Fork Creek, a tributary of <br />the Arkansas River, about 5 miles west of Leadville, Colorado. The lake has a <br />total capacity of 129,398 acre -feet at a water surface elevation of 9869.4 feet. The <br />lake is operated to provide regulation of both project and non - project water <br />imported from the west slope. Turquoise Lake is operated on an annual cycle, as <br />is Ruedi Reservoir. The lake is drafted through the Mt. Elbert Conduit during the <br />winter to provide adequate space for the spring imports of west slope water. Most <br />of the native inflow from Lake Fork Creek is impounded in the lake and returned to <br />the Arkansas River via the Mt. Elbert Conduit, the Mt. Elbert Powerplant, and Twin <br />Lakes. The lake is also operated to provide for recreation and wildlife habitat. <br />The Mt. Elbert Conduit conveys project, non - project, and native Lake Fork Creek <br />water from Turquoise Lake to Twin Lakes. The conduit is 10.7 miles long and has <br />a water conveyance capacity of 370 cfs. Native water from Halfmoon Creek is <br />also added to the conduit and returned to the Arkansas River from Twin Lakes <br />Dam. All conduit flow which reaches the Mt. Elbert Forebay is used to generate <br />electricity at the Mt. Elbert Powerplant as it is delivered to Twin Lakes. <br />The Mt. Elbert Powerplant is a pumped- storage facility located on the shore of <br />Twin Lakes. It has two 100- megawatt turbine generators, which can be reversed <br />and used as 340,000- horsepower pumps. In addition to being used to generate <br />energy with the Mt. Elbert Conduit flow, the plant is used to follow daily peak power <br />loads. This load following is accomplished by pumping water to the Mt. Elbert <br />Forebay, an 11,143- acre -foot regulating pool at the terminus of the Mt. Elbert <br />Conduit, from Twin Lakes during off -peak load hours using surplus or low cost <br />energy. That water is then returned to Twin Lakes through the turbines during <br />peak load hours, along with the Mt. Elbert Conduit flow. The energy generated at <br />the plant is transmitted and marketed by the Western Area Power Administration, <br />with the revenues applied to the repayment of the project. <br />Twin Lakes Dam and Twin Lakes are located on Lake Creek, a tributary of the <br />Arkansas River, about 13 miles south of Leadville, Colorado. Twin Lakes has a <br />capacity of 140,855 acre -feet at a maximum water surface elevation of 9200 feet. <br />The reservoir is operated to regulate both project and non - project water imported <br />from the west slope. The project water stored in the reservoir is released to Lake <br />Creek for storage in Pueblo Reservoir during the winter months, in anticipation of <br />spring imports from the west slope. Native inflows into Turquoise Lake, native <br />flows diverted from Halfmoon Creek, and native inflows into Twin Lakes, are all <br />released to Lake Creek from the Twin Lakes Dam. The cities of Colorado Springs <br />` <br />