BOARD00528

• Board Meeting Date: 3/24/2003
• Description: CF Section - Lake Meredith Reservoir Company
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Lake Meredith Reservoir Co.
March 24.26. 2003

Agenda Item 240.

The Lake Meredith Reservoir Comoanv
The Lake Meredith Reservoir Company is a Colorado Corporation founded in 1907 for the
purpose of diverting, storing, conveying, and releasing: water stored in Lake Meredith for the
benefit of its shareholders. There are 85 shareholderlj and 40,621.385 shares of stock, of
which 88 percent are for municipal use, 11.3 percerit are for agricultural use and the remaining
0.5 percent are for domestic use and well augmentation. Reservoir releases once irrigated
about 40,000 acres of agricultural land; currently about 3,500 acres are irrigated. The Company
has the power to set annual assessments, the power to terminate water deliveries to
shareholders that are in default, and the power to offer stock for sale to pay back assessments.

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Water Rlahts
The source of water for the reservoir is the Arkansas River. Water is diverted from the river
near Boone, under storage rights appropriated March 9, 1898. The diversions are conveyed
from the Arkansas River to Lake Meredith through the Colorado Canal at rates up to 760 cfs.
Most of the diversions, up to about 550 cfs, flow to a structure northeast of Ordway where it is
divided between Lake Henry and Lake Meredith, and ,then southward to Lake Meredith. Flow
rates in excess of 550 cfs are diverted out of the Coldrado Canal into Bob Creek and are
conveyed to Lake Meredith through the Bob Creek streambed. Company records indicate
diversions for reservoir storage have averaged 14,40b ac-ft for the period August 1957 through
December 2002. .

Project DescrJotlon
The purpose of the project is to construct a new outlet channel for the reservoir that will avoid
the need for maintenance dredging in future years, be protected from sedimentation caused by
wave action, provide flexibility in the operation of the reservoir, and enhance the removal of .
sediment from reservoir releases to the Arkansas River. The near-term objective of the project
is to enable reservoir releases to the minimum possi~/e pool elevation in 2003. Three
alternatives were considered:

1. The "No-action Alternative."

2. Reconstruction of the outlet channel at a lower ,elevation within the existing reservoir pool.
This will minimize the excavation volume and reduce costs.

3. Reconstruction of the outlet channel at the highest feasible elevation within the existing
reservoir pool. This will maximize the flexibility a~d accessibility of the new outlet system.

Alternative No.1 is considered unacceptable becallse the sedimentation problem is getting
progressively worse at a time when the water is desperately needed.
Alternative No.2 is feasible but has been ruled outibecause it is a short-term solution to the
problem. It is inflexible and provides no advantages 'other than the presence of a new outlet.
Alternative No.3 has been selected by the Company as the most feasible and justified
alternative. ($1,524,860)

The selected alternative, Alternative No.3, will ensure that water deliveries can be made from
the lowest possible water pool, and will also provid~ many advantages over Alternative No.2.
The location near the high waterline will allow construction of a protective breakwater dike
(using the excavated soils), provide better accessibility and easier maintenance in future years,
and provide the means for removing sediment influx from Bob Creek. Excavation costs as low
as $0.85 per cubic yard are expected.

The implementation schedule calls for completion of financing arrangements in spring 2003. e
Final engineering design will be completed by May ~003. Construction will start in spring 2003
and be completed in fall 2003. .

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