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B. HISTORY OF THE TWO DAMS <br />Two maps are provided to identify the region and the specific area where <br />the project is located. This project is located in the State of Colorado, Delta <br />County and within the Grand Mesa National Forest. The two sites are identified. <br />The nearest town is Cedaredge approximately 25 miles south of the project area. <br />More specifically, about 8 miles east of Highway 65 on Trickle Park Road is the <br />location of phase I of the project and phase II is situated on the north side of <br />Surface Creek Road about 2 miles past phase I. <br />The site of the Peak Reservoir was identified around 1903 for the potential <br />to build a small reservoir. The initial projections were to construct a dam that had <br />a capacity of 50 acre feet of water, but during the process of developing this site <br />the required easements were not filed and the reservoir never had an easement <br />agreement with the U.S. Forest Service. During this time the developers were <br />unaware of their lack of proper agreements with the Forest Service and <br />proceeded to build a small dam in the 1903 -05 timeframe. The structure was <br />about 12 feet high and 200 feet long built out of native materials, and held about <br />30 acre feet of water. The structure fell in a state of disrepair and the dam was <br />abandoned around 1950. There were no legal rights filed with the State of <br />Colorado Division of Water Resources to store water in this structure. Since that <br />time there has been no water impounded nor attempts to utilize the site due to <br />the lack of easement agreement with the Forest Service. The District received <br />title to the site through a Quit Claim Deed (see appendix.) The District, aware of <br />the need the Forest Service has for augmentation water, and its desire to <br />address the impending shortages approached the Forest Service with the idea <br />that they would build the Peak Reservoir if the Forest Service would issue a <br />"Special Use Permit" for the site. In exchange for the necessary augmentation <br />water, the Forest Service would waive the fees for the permit. <br />The second phase of this project is the construction of the Blanche Park <br />Reservoir. This site was chosen by a group of local farmers in 1895 who filed the <br />required paperwork with the Forest Service and received an 1891 Easement <br />Agreement. They began construction on a dam to impound 120 acre feet of <br />water. It is unknown as to what type of water management equipment was <br />installed, if any, since this structure was breached in 1946. Interestingly enough, <br />the owners never filed for any water storage rights with the Colorado Division of <br />Water Resources. The District owns title to this site. There has been an <br />engineering overview done on the project from which have been derived the cost <br />estimates. The entire permitting process has been scheduled to be completed <br />the second quarter of 2013 with construction to begin in the summer of 2013. <br />7 <br />