C150058A Feasibility Study - Laserfiche WebLink

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The contract between MVIC and the DISTRICT for Dolores Project deliveries limits the annual water usage by MVIC. The sale of the 1,500 Class B shares will not allow MVIC to divert any additional water. If MVIC does not have adequate water supplies, the Class B shares will be shorted first. Totten Reservoir is a 3,300 acre -foot reservoir about one mile east of the City of Cortez. The reservoir historically was used to provide water to the Rocky Ford lateral of the MVIC delivery system which was abandoned when the Towaoc - Highline Canal was constructed. The reservoir lies about 150 feet lower in elevation than the Towaoc - Highline Canal so that use of water from the reservoir would require a pump and pipeline to convey water to the canal. The DISTRICT would utilize Totten Reservoir by pumping water from the reservoir into the Towaoc - Highline Canal to replace water diverted to other locations. Based on the estimated inflow to Totten, the annual yield could be about 1,840 acre -feet. The DISTRICT has about 4,500 acre -feet of water that is allocated for future municipal and industrial uses. Depending upon a number of factors, it may be possible that a portion of the municipal and industrial water might be used on interim basis for other purposes. Detailed consideration was given to the option of constructing an upstream reservoir to store water spilled from McPhee to provide additional water for the fishery below McPhee. The most feasible reservoir site is the Plateau Creek Reservoir site on Plateau Creek. The preliminary estimate of the yield from Plateau Reservoir is 3,700 acre -feet per year from a 20,000 acre -foot reservoir. The fact that on the average McPhee Reservoir spills in only about half of the years severely restricts the yield of the Plateau Reservoir. The initial cost estimate for Plateau Dam is approximately $6,000,000. ALTERNATIVE PLANS Alternative plans were formulated and evaluated as part of this feasibility study to serve various uses, especially the fishery below McPhee Dam and additional irrigation. The alternatives that would have provided additional fishery water are not feasible at the present time because of the lack of construction funding and/or funds for annual debt service. Alternatives that involve delivery of DISTRICT M &I water are not feasible at the present time because of poor repayment ability resulting from insufficient number of homes to be served. These alternatives are expected to be feasible in the future as the population growth continues in the DISTRICT's service area. ii