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<br />Vail Valley Consolidated Water District <br />Water Conservation Master Plan <br /> <br />April 15, 1996 <br />Page 2 <br /> <br />III. WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS <br /> <br />The primary water supply source for the District's system is a well field located near the <br />upper end of the Vail Golf Course near the confluence of Gore Creek and Booth Creek. The <br />Gore Valley Water Treatment Plan located in East Vail and four wells located in West Vail <br />operate as standby sources of water. The District has recently completed construction of a <br />water supply pipeline and pumping facilities to connect the District's water supply system <br />to the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority system that now serves the area extending <br />from Eagle-Vail to Edwards. This pipeline, known as the interconnecting water main, <br />provides alternative points of diversion for the existing water rights associated with both <br />water supply systems. <br /> <br />Due to widely varying elevations associated with the mountainous terrain within the <br />District's service area, the distribution system has been divided into 13 pressure zones. The <br />system includes seven booster pump stations and eleven treated water storage tanks. <br /> <br />Vail Mountain snowmaking water is delivered from a surface diversion located on Gore <br />Creek below the Vail Wastewater Treatment Plant. Water is pumped from Gore Creek to <br />a storage and operating reservoir located above Lionshead near the intersection of Born Free <br />and Gitalong Road. Water from the reservoir is then pumped to the snowmaking distribution <br />system. <br /> <br />Domestic water supply for Vail mountain is provided primarily from two sources located <br />within the ski area: Plow Spring supplies water to Two Elk restaurant and Camp One; and <br />Tourist Trap Spring provides water for Mid-Vail and Eagle's Nest restaurants. Chlorinating <br />facilities for these water supply sources are located at Two Elk/Camp One and Mid-Vail. <br />Supplemental water supply for facilities on Vail Mountain is provided from the District's <br />system.- <br /> <br />Many of the District's water rights were historically used for agricultural irrigation and <br />livestock and then transfeITed to domestic and industrial uses as the valley became urbanized. <br />. _ .. _ ~ese water rights were then,.incQIJ1()!ated into a Plan f()r Augll!entation which was approved <br />by the District Court for Water Division No.5 in Case No. 82CW328. The Plan for <br />Augmentation limits the District to diversion of 4,876.4 acre-feet per year, limits the <br />consumptive use of water to 1,242.8 acre-feet per year, and provides for alternative points <br />of diversion. In 1994, diversions by the District totaled approximately 3,600 acre-feet. An <br />average of approximately 25 percent of the total amount diverted is consumed and about 75 <br />percent returns to the stream. Water rights currently utilized by the District are sufficient to <br />comfortably provide for existing demands and projected buildout demands. <br /> <br />In 1994, the District completed the development of a Water System Master Plan to guide the <br />expansion of the existing water distribution system and determine the need for system <br />improvements. The Water System Master Plan identified needs for improvements in the <br />treatment and distribution system including the following: 1) improvements in treatment and <br />distribution facilities to meet current and projected peak day demands; and 2) additional <br />treated water storage for peak day demands and potential emergency situations (Merrick <br />