PUB00053

• Year: 1999
• Title: Metropolitian Water Supply Investigation Final Report
• Author: Hydrosphere Resource Consultants
• Description: Metropolitian Water Supply Investigation Final Report
• Publications - Doc Type: Water Resource Studies

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Metropolitan Water Supply Investigation

MWSI Results

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Figure 5: Denver's Unused Divertible Supplies South Platte
and Blue Rivers Near-Term Scenario

500,000
450,000
400,000
350,000
Qi 300,000
"
LL 250,000
"
~
0
<C 200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
1947

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1952 1957 1962 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987
Water Vear
= South Platte _Blue River -Combined Average

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Aurora's Unused DIvertlble Supplies

The City of Aurora has water rights in three transbasin diversion systems in the Colorado
River basin and in several ditch companies and ranches in the Arkansas River basin. The
divertible yields of these rights increase considerably in high runoff years. An initial
analysis was conducted of Aurora's potentially unused divertible supplies as part of
Phase II of the MWSI. This analysis revealed that, under future demand conditions and
considering Aurora's current storage facilities, Aurora would have sufficient demand and
storage capability to fully use these supplies under all but very wet conditions. In
addition, Aurora is pursuing additional storage options to regulate these remaining flows,
For these reasons, this MWSI did not examine this surface water supply source further.

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Prepared for the Colorado Water Conservation Board, Colorado Department of Natural Resources by
Hydrosphere Resource Consultants, 1002 Walnut Street. Suite 200, Boulder, CO 80302

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Water from the Colorado-BIa Thompson and Windy Gap Proieets

The Colorado-Big Thompson Project was constructed by the ns, Bureau of Reclamation
for the primary purpose of providing a supplemental water supply from the Colorado
River to lands within the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District for irrigation,
municipal, industrial and other beneficial uses. The Project has operated for over forty
years according to water rights decrees, contractual agreements between the United States

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