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<br />. <br /> <br /> <br />',^ ,:, <br />NARROWS;;, <br />. ,: r ," <br /> <br />,oJ',' <br /> <br />":",".> <br /> <br />Location: <br /> <br />On the South Platte River - about seven miies west of Fort <br />Morgan. about 70alr miles northeast of Denver. Colorado, <br />" ,....- '>-,' - ~",.,.' '" ,} <br />'Sponsors: ,., . <br /> <br />lower South Platte Water Conservancy District Central <br />Colorado Water Conservancy District; State of Colo. - <br />Colo. Water Conservation Board;. ,State of Colorado <br />Division of Wildlife; State of Colorado Division of Parks <br />andOu1doo~Recreatlon. ' <br /> <br />PrImary Purpose of the Project <br />W8tersupply ":"Irrigation,and municipal and industrial, <br />Secondary Benefits: . <br />Recreation,"':: Ash & Wildlife - FtoocfControl, <br />History and Background: <br />The need fOr a dlim and reserllOlroo the South Platte In <br />northeaStern Colorado has been discussed since 1905 - <br />or before, <br />The Narrows Unit was originally authorized as part of <br />Missouri River Basin Project (now the Pick-Sloan Missouri <br />Basin Program) by the Flood Control Act 1944. as <br />amended. Under the 0Iig1na1 authorization. preconstruc- <br />'Uon activities began In 1947 and a "definite plan report" <br />was prepared by the Bureau of Reclamation In 1951. <br />SIx alternative locations for the damsite were considerad <br />In the report. In downstream order, these included <br />locations as Hardin. Goodrich. Weldon&, Narrows: Fort <br />Morgan, and Old Fort Morgan, Due to. lack of official <br />support by the State of Colorado, however, all actiVity on <br />the project ceased following Issuance of the report in <br />1951. <br />In 1958, a group of residents from theSouth Platte Valley <br />appeared before the Colorado Water Conservstion Board <br />and requested that studies be reinltlated, Many of the <br />farmers petitioning the Board had not had sufficient waler <br />since the severe drought of the mid-1950's - and were <br />eager to obtain additional water for their crops. The Board <br />subsequenUy approved the request and the Bureau <br />resumed studies of the project. At this stage, proposed <br />sites for a dam and reservoir had essentially been reduced <br />to two - the Narrows and Hsrdin. <br />In 1964 - t~"Colorado Water Conservation Board hired <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />~ ',,',' ".' <br /> <br />"....;"~' it,,'. ..:~,f .' <br /> <br />, , " <br />several Independent Ilnns toconcluctStudiesotthe two <br />sites. Those ~agal~ conduded Nanows was the <br />most desirable location 10r the. project and the, Board <br />officially 9- Its approv8l. ~. ',. .,... .. .. <br /> <br />In August, 1964. Congress Passed legislation requiring <br />reauthorization 01 all projects In the Missouri River Basin <br />on which constrlJ!:tion had not yet started. , . . <br /> <br />In 1970, Congress again suthorized construction 01 <br />Narrows project, but by then the price had increased to <br />$68.1 mllllon. Design changes fOt' added flood control and <br />Inlletlon pushed it to theestimateof$139mllllon, based on <br />July 1975 ftgunlS. <br /> <br />Comparatlv. costs at the Hardin site Increesad even more <br />. dramatically and were estimated in July 1975 to be more <br />than $100 million higl\er than at the Narrows site; <br />.. " '~. <br /> <br />Physical Facts end Figures: <br /> <br />Height, length and type of dam: <br /> <br />Type ,.' " ,. . earthflll <br />Height above atreambed ,147 feet <br />Crest length 4,2 miles <br />Cl'llSt wldtb.. 30 filet . <br />Crest elevation -4,454 feet . <br />VolUme of embankment 8,8 million cu.yds. <br />Selvk:e SPlllWllY caP. 78.660 cU" ft. per see, <br />Enielgencysplllway cap. ' ~55.830 cu..ft.pet lI8C. <br />River ou1Iet wOrtls cap, .4.800 cu. ft.jIer sec. <br />,Fort Morgan. Canal ' <br />.ou1Iet capacity 350 cu. ft. per sec. <br />. *, <br /> <br />Storage capacity (A-F.) of reservoir: <br /> <br />Storage 10r conservation <br />.' (top 01 joint use) <br />Storage - total volume <br />. (max. Water level) <br /> <br />ShOrelIne andiurface area: <br /> <br />" Surface area (top of <br />joint use) 15,000 BC. It. <br />Surface area (M8Jl. <br />water level) . 40,813 acres <br />Shoreline length (top 01 <br />joint use) 40 miles <br /> <br />, <br />~~. - <br /> <br />498.000 ac, 11, <br /> <br />. 1,609,000 ac. ft. <br /> <br />(Continued on n."t plJ!/ff) <br /> <br />12 <br />