BOARD00543

• Board Meeting Date: 7/28/2003
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Counties. The purpose is to pump water from the South Platte River during times of surplus and
deliver this water to infiltration areas. Water then percolates back to the river and provides
augmentation during times of shortage. Project participants include the Northern Colorado Water
Conservancy District, the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District, Ground Water
Appropriators ofthe South Platte, the Platte River Project, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Over ten wells were been completed along with the pipelines to deliver the water to a number of
infiltration areas. All the projects have been invoiced and the remaining funds can be reverted to the
Construction Fund.

21.

Satellite Monitoring Svstem
Authorization: HB 93-1273 to HB 02-1152
Water Source: Statewide Streams
Location: Statewide
Sponsor: CWCB

GrantAmount: $2,104,000
Project Type: Stream Gaging
Project Manager: JeffBaessler
Beneficiary: CWCB Staff, and
Statewide Water Users

Backl!\'ound

This project entails the development and implementation of a long-range plan to address the gaging needs of the
Colorado Water Conservation Board.

As the state's water planning agency, the CWCB relies upon gages operated by the Division of Water Resources
(DWR), United States Geological Survey (USGS) and private entities in order to meet the needs of its mission
critical program areas including Compact Protection, Decision Support System Development, Floodplain
Management and Stream and Lake Protection. However, CWCB gaging needs are often different from those of
the DWR and USGS. Although many existing gages provide needed data, the DWR's mission is to administer
the state's water rights, while the USGS collects data for long-term scientific record purposes. As a result,
stream gages are not always located where the CWCB needs them, nor are they necessarily designed to fit
CWCB data collection parameters. Implementation ofthis project will enable the CWCB to strengthen its
cooperative efforts with the DWR and USGS to expand, refurbish, redesign and create new gages as well as
develop new strategies to obtain data that will not only benefit the CWCB but statewide stakeholder interests.

Status of Proiects

The total authorized amount for this project to date is $387,737. At this time, $193,167 has dispersed to support
a number of gaging projects. The following provides a summary on the status of each of these projects.

I. Dye Dilution Tracer Research Project to monitor last season and winter flow conditions - The initial
research on this project was completed last winter. Additional stations will be investigated in late 2003
with a final report projected for spring 2004.
2. Flow Alert System - All equipment and software has been purchased. Alert Phone lines are being set
up and the system is expected to be operational by the end of the 2003 runoff season.
3. Flood Hardening and Flood Waming Systems - CWCB staff continue to work with DWR and USGS
staff to harden specific gages that were initially ranked in order of priority in 200 I. Flood warning
systems are now operational on the Hayman burn area.
4. Update USGS 1 DWR gages of interest to CWCB with high data rate satellite telemetry equipment _
Equipment has been purchased and distributed for the White River, Crystal River and Blue River.
Additional sites will be evaluated this summer and equipment will be purchased and installed.
5. Installation of new Gages - A need for additional gages on Boulder Creek and Fourmile Creek in
Boulder County have been identified. The required equipment is currently being evaluated and should
be installed by fall 2003. Other potential gage sites are currently being identified.