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Feasibility Study for the Plaza Project — Phase 2: McDonald Ditch Implementation Project <br />station is reporting equals the desired flow. Rubicon Water, an Australian based company, <br />provides cutting edge water management systems. Rubicon's system has an operating system <br />that can be programmed onsite or remotely via computer or smart phone. Rubicon utilizes <br />overshot gates with sensors that measure the upstream and downstream pools. The gate then <br />adjusts to deliver the programmed flow. Because the Rubicon system measures upstream and <br />downstream pools, it can be installed at numerous places on the irrigation system and regulate <br />the flow of the entire ditch. This is known at Total Canal (TC) control. Rubicon engineers <br />complete the gate design and installation. They then provide training and costumer support for <br />the system. The Stakeholders were impressed with the automated systems and insist they be <br />included in headgates in the Project area. This will allow for improved irrigation efficiency and <br />accounting of water, which is critical to on -farm and Rio Grande Compact management. <br />6.5 Micro- Hydropower Production Potential <br />Stakeholders were very interested in investigating the potential to include low head micro - <br />hydropower (micro - hydro) production in the diversions or headgates in the Project area. A <br />feasibility study was commissioned with Applegate Group Inc., who recently completed a study <br />on including micro -hydro production in canals and ditches across Colorado. Micro -hydro <br />production is not recommended at any of the Plaza Project elements at this time, as detailed in <br />the following excerpt from the Executive Summary of the feasibility study: "At this time, the <br />development of the three sites is not recommended. The very low head available at the diversion <br />dams and the high friction losses associated with the pipeline options makes a potential project <br />economically unfavorable. Innovative low head turbines are relatively new to the market and <br />are priced at a premium. As more of these turbines are installed, we hope that the prices will <br />come down and make these sites more favorable." <br />16 <br />