BOARD00941

• Board Meeting Date: 9/23/1966
• Description: Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

Navajo Reservoir, as mcst of ycu are aware,
has been purpcsely held at a very lcw level
during the early part of the summer to permit
ccmpletion of the diversion tunnel for the
Navajc Indian Irrigation Prcject. Since the
critical part cf this wcrk is now complete, the
release cf water from Navajo Dam has been re-
duced to abcut 500 cubic feet per seccnd requir-
ed for dcwnstream uses. This has increased
stcrage and enhanced recreational use of the
reservcir. The level of the reservoir, now
at elevaticn 5,966 feet, will remain prac-
tically constant until about October 1 when
we will again withdraw scme water as a safety
precauticn while we repair the cutlet works
stilling basin. We have a contract in prcspect
to make the repair and we hope by a year frcm
now we'll have Navajo Reservcir baclc in a
ncrmal cperating sequence.

Blue Mesa Reservcir, new in its first year
of operaticn, began tc fill in October 1965 and
new contains abcut 330,000 acre-feet of water,
with a lake elevation of 7,432 feet. The
reservcir level will gradually decline to
abcut 429,000 acre-feet vclume at elevaticn
7,431 feet by March 1967. Scme water is now
being released to the unccmpahgre prcject under
an exchange arrangement with Taylor Park Reser-
vcir which assisted in the initial filling of
Blue Mesa last fall. Operation of.Blue Mesa
Reservcir fer the prcducticn of hydrcpower will
begin when the first 30,000-kw generating unit
new being installed is tested next spring.

I

Fontenelle Reservoir stcrage has been
reduced tc abcut 26,000 acre-feet cf water or
about 7% of its 345,000 acre-feet tctal capacity
tc facilitate repairs to the embankment damaged I
by last year's leak. Refilling cannct be
scheduled until we can assure ccmplete ccntrol
cf the river and avoid any risk of a rapid and
uncontrclled rise in water level on this new
embankment. It now appears that filling will
be delayed until at least a year from new, cr