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Ms. Maryanne C. Bach <br />12/30/99 <br />Page 3 <br />agreement with members of Consolidated Ditches precludes Denver from reusing return <br />flows from Colorado River water appropriated prior to May 1, 1940. In lieu of not reusing <br />this water, Denver is not required to make evaporation releases at Antero, Eleven Mile, and <br />Cheesman Reservoirs. Since Denver is effectively replacing these evaporation losses with a <br />portion of return flows from Colorado River water, Denver is claiming successive use credit <br />as shown in Column (2) of Table IV. <br />West Slone Storage <br />The following information on Denver Water's west slope storage is provided for your <br />information. Authorized storage in Dillon Reservoir on September 30, 1998, was 251,768 <br />acre -feet and on September 30, 1999, it was 254,852 acre -feet, for net change of +3,084 <br />acre -feet. Similarly, on September 30, 1998, authorized storage in Williams Fork Reservoir <br />was 91,019 acre -feet and on September 30, 1999, it was 91,699 acre -feet, for a net change of <br />+680 acre -feet. <br />Successive Use Program <br />Denver's main source of reusable water is the Colorado River basin. Denver does have a <br />small source of reusable water from the South Platte basin. Reusable water returning to the <br />South Platte River after use is termed reusable return flow. Reusable effluent is reusable <br />return flow from sewered uses that returns to the South Platte via wastewater treatment <br />plants. <br />As shown in Table IV, Denver continued to make successive uses of its Colorado River <br />water in 1999. During the water year, Denver reclaimed 13,089 acre -feet of reusable <br />effluent for beneficial use in the Denver metropolitan area. This volume is 99% of the <br />average since 1966, but is lower than the successive use during the 1988 -1996 period. Once <br />again, higher than average native water 'supplies were available in the South Platte River <br />basin due to spring and late summer rainfalls. This caused relatively junior water right calls <br />downstream of Denver on the South Platte River for significant lengths of time from May to <br />September. These conditions preclude opportunities to exchange reusable effluent. The <br />river call conditions are also demonstrated by relatively low evaporation credit claimed from <br />Denver's South Platte reservoirs. <br />Denver continues to actively pursue maximizing its use of Colorado River return flows. <br />During 1999, Denver continued to pursue implementation of the Board of Water <br />Commissioner's near term water supply strategy for producing 55,000 acre -feet of water <br />needed to extend Denver's water supply to the year 2030. The strategy contains the <br />elements of non - potable reuse, small -scale system refinements, water conservation, and <br />cooperative supply projects. These elements were selected after completion of Denver <br />Water's Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). <br />Nonpotable Reuse Project. Nonpotable reuse would greatly enhance Denver's successive <br />use of Colorado River water. The project being planned involves the construction of a 45 <br />