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Background <br />Purpose <br />This project completes a waterline that will provide water to the Ordway Cattle Feeders, LLC (company) <br />feedlot from wells located on a ranch owned by the company. The wells are decreed for irrigation and <br />livestock watering. The Ordway Feedyard already has in place a battery of four wells, two booster stations <br />and 4.2 miles of pipe at the west end of the proposed system. Phase 1, funded entirely by Ordway Feedyard, <br />LLC, includes re- establishing easements and the rehabilitation of the existing stretch of pipeline, wells and <br />booster stations. Phase 2 completes the project with a third booster station, 10.5 miles of water pipeline, <br />back up generators, and a remote monitoring and control system. <br />Loan funding requested is $2,500,000. <br />The primary purpose of this project is to provide a consistent, sustainable supply of livestock drinking <br />water, dust abatement, and compost conditioning water for the Feedyard. The Feedyard also intends to use <br />this new water source to serve their feed mill needs in the future. In addition, the water supply may <br />provide an emergency source of water for fighting farmstead and wildland fires in the area between <br />Crowley and Ordway. <br />The Ordway Cattle Feeders feedlot was built in 1972 with the intent of keeping agricultural enterprise <br />viable in Crowley County. The feedlot property includes a 1,000 -acre ranch along the Arkansas River, the <br />location of the wells accessed by this water activity. The feedlot has not had access to the ranch wells and <br />has struggled with water supply and delivery issues since its inception, causing the long -term viability of <br />the enterprise to be uncertain. Current owners have shown their commitment to a sustainable future by <br />taking measures such as the construction of a $2.5 million feed mill in 2011. Addressing long -term water <br />supply and delivery is the biggest obstacle the company faces, and both Crowley County and feedlot owners <br />are determined to address this challenge now, in an effort to ensure that the feedlot will be able to <br />withstand the vicissitudes of economy, weather, population, politics and climate. <br />The Ordway Feedyard owns 569 shares of Colorado Canal water paired with Lake Meredith and Lake <br />Henry, along with 2 Twin Lake Shares. The company has recently entered into a 15 -year lease for 700 of <br />per year with Pueblo Board of Water Works. The company also owns the River Ranch, nearly 15 miles <br />from the feedyard, which includes 20 wells decreed for irrigation and stock watering. Some farming is done <br />at the ranch, but the water is inaccessible for feedyard use at this time. <br />Water is delivered from Pueblo Reservoir through the Colorado Canal, stored in Lake Henry and piped to <br />the feedyard. <br />There are several problems with the historic supply regimen, and corresponding opportunities provided by <br />the proposed project. <br />• Combined transit and evaporative losses sustained under the current regimen were 66% in 2012 <br />(data source -State Engineers Office and Colorado Canal Co). This means that the Feedyard lost 954 <br />acre feet of water in order to provide 500 acre feet of water to the feedyard. This pipeline project <br />eliminates 850 acre feet of that loss, freeing up that water for other uses. <br />• The current water supply is not secure. Evaporative loss forces the Feedyard to purchase water on <br />the spot market - a vulnerable source. <br />• The current water supply storage and delivery system is not secure. The majority of Lake Henry <br />water rights are held by Front Range cities. The reservoir's water levels are controlled mainly by <br />Front Range users, creating increased vulnerability for the company. When less water is stored in <br />Lake Henry, evaporation rates become greater. In the 2012 drought, the Feedyard was forced to <br />