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Need for the Project <br />Bijou is undertaking repairs to their headgate river diversion <br />structure to ensure that it can continue to divert water from the <br />South Platte River. The current facility has two major <br />components. They are the ditch intake and the river diversion <br />structure. The ditch intake is a concrete structure using five <br />steel radial gates for adjusting flows into the Empire Reservoir <br />inlet. This structure is in good condition. This structure has <br />suffered only minimal damage due to times of high flow in the <br />river. The river diversion, which uses a board system to divert <br />flow into the ditch, has suffered extreme damage due to times of <br />high flow in the river. This structure has lost its effectiveness <br />due to the large amount of sand that has accumulated upstream <br />from the diversion. The current structure can not be operated in <br />a manor to reduce the sand upstream of the intake gates. The sand <br />bar causes excessive amount of sand to be drawn into the inlet <br />canal and hampers diversions into the inlet. This problem will <br />continue to occur unless the river diversion is changed in some <br />dramatic fashion. The existing river diversion also has a problem <br />with debris, mainly trees, hanging up on the structure causing <br />continual maintenance issues. Photos of the existing structures <br />can be found in Appendix C. <br />Alternatives Evaluated <br />A range of alternatives were considered including 1) don't build <br />the project, 2) do remedial work only to the extent that the <br />diversion is put back into normal operation until damage occurs <br />again, 3) replace 100 feet of the river diversion structure with <br />a new bladder gate system, and 4) replace 200 feet of the river <br />diversion structure with a new bladder gate system. <br />An evaluation of the alternatives follows: <br />l. Don't build the project: <br />If this project were not pursued, Bijou would eventually be <br />unable to fill Empire Reservoir. This would be an annual <br />loss of approximately 50,970 acre feet of irrigation water. <br />This event, if it occurred, could lead to a major loss of <br />crops under the Bijou system. The per acre value of farm <br />ground in the Bijou system could potentially drop <br />significantly. This alternative is not acceptable to Bijou. <br />Feasibility Study <br />Bijou Trrigation District <br />D-iversion Structu�e <br />Jun2 2007 <br />�� <br />