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Loan Feasibility Study for <br />Raw Water Acquisition and Utilization <br />page I <br />1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />Penrose Water District (the District) is a Colorado Special District that was formed in 1967 to supply <br />a safe and reliable drinking water supply to the citizens in and around the unincorporated community <br />of Penrose, located in Fremont County. Located just 35 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, 15 <br />miles east of Canon City, and 20 miles west of Pueblo, Penrose is a rapidly developing bedroom <br />community. Approximately 4,000 people currently live in Penrose proper, and the population in the <br />District is slightly less. By 2040, the projected population in the District is expected to be <br />approximately 8,000 residents. <br />The District currently relies on a lease with Beaver Park Irrigation Company [also know as Beaver <br />Park Water, Inc. (BPW)] for raw water to satisfy its municipal demand. In 2002 and continuing into <br />2003, drought conditions resulted in a reduced availability of water from BPW to the District. As a <br />result of the drought, the District instituted outside watering restrictions, disallowing all outside use <br />except for watering of livestock and protection of human health and welfare. The risk of running out <br />of its raw water supply was so great in 2002 and 2003, the District favorably discussed with the <br />Portland Water Treatment Plant (WTP) a plan whereby the Portland WTP would sell treated water to <br />the District and the District would transport that water into the District's system through a temporary <br />pipeline running the approximate two miles from the Portland WTP to the District. In addition to <br />the unreliability of the leased supply, the maximum amount of water available for lease through <br />BPW is not sufficient to supply the District's future municipal demand in an average year. <br />The District's goal is to secure a loan from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) in the <br />amount of $8,757,000 to finance the purchase of 10 /12th of the Pleasant Valley Ditch water rights <br />and to construct a system to divert and convey the historical consumptive use component of the <br />Pleasant Valley Ditch water right to the District for utilization within its system. The system will <br />consist of a well field containing seven (7) ground water wells located along the Arkansas River. <br />The historical consumptive use component of the Pleasant Valley Ditch water will be diverted <br />through the well field and transported to an enlarged Brush Hollow Reservoir, located approximately <br />5 miles to the north. Once in Brush Hollow Reservoir, the Pleasant Valley Ditch supply will be <br />integrated into the District's existing raw water supply system. <br />The purchase of the Pleasant Valley Ditch water rights will not eliminate the need for BPW supply. <br />The District's intention is to supplement a portion of the existing lease with BPW with this <br />alternative supply of raw water and in so doing, lessen its reliance on BPW. <br />2. PROJECT SPONSOR <br />The project sponsor for the water right purchase and raw water utilization system is the Penrose <br />Water District (the District), a duly constituted and established Colorado Special District within <br />Fremont County. The District was formed in July 1967 under Colorado Revised Statute (CRS) 32 -1- <br />Leonard Rice Engineers, Inc. August 2006 — 1018PEN05 <br />GMS, Inc. <br />