Laserfiche WebLink
November 1, 2007 <br /> Mr. Steve Moore, Project Manager <br /> U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District <br /> Colorado/Gunnison Basin Regulatory Office <br /> 400 Rood Avenue, Room 142 <br /> Grand Junction, CO 81501-2563 <br /> Re: Public Notice 2007-01391-GB Comments (Palisade Whitewater Park) <br /> Dear Mr. Moore: <br /> The Orchard Mesa Irrigation District(OMID) has reviewed the subject public <br /> notice and would like to provide the following comments: <br /> The OMID supports the issuance of a permit for the whitewater park with the <br /> following caveats: OMID is part of the Federal Grand Valley Project, operated under <br /> contract to the Bureau of Reclamation. As such, it is our duty to operate our facilities in a <br /> manner that does not jeopardize humans or the environment. Our discharge afterbay <br /> from the turbine pumps and the power generation is immediately upstream of the upper <br /> end of the proposed whitewater facility. <br /> Specific Comments: <br /> 1) The proposed location of the whitewater park is immediately downstream of the <br /> OMID pumping plant and Grand Valley Power Plant. If not properly designed, <br /> we believe that construction of the whitewater park will result in increased water <br /> surface elevations upstream of the proposed park. Those increases could then <br /> reduce the total dynamic head available to drive our turbines, thus reducing the <br /> amount of water available to the landowners of the OMID. Those increases could <br /> also reduce the amount of power generated at the Grand Valley Power Plant, <br /> resulting in a loss of revenue to the operating entities. <br /> 2) During low flow periods in the river, the Orchard Mesa Check Structure is used to <br /> force water from the afterbay upstream to the Grand Valley Irrigation Company's <br /> (GVIC) diversion dam in order to meet GVIC's senior water rights. Increases in <br /> the river stage at high flows could damage the check structure itself, impacting <br /> water deliveries to the GVIC, the Grand Valley Water Users Association <br /> (GVWUA), OMID, Mesa County Irrigation District and Palisade Irrigation <br />