BOARD01021

• Board Meeting Date: 5/11/1998
• Description: CF Section - Update on Existing Authorizations - Ute Water Conservancy District - Plateau Creek Pipeline Project
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

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Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
721 Centennial Building
1 31 3 Sherman Street
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone, [phone]
FAX: [phone],4474

MEMORANDUM

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members
'P~
Bill Green, P.E.
Project Planning and Construction

FROM:

DATE:

May 1, 1998

SUBJECT:

Agenda Item 8a., May 11-12, 1998 Board Meeting - Update on
Existing Authorizations - Ute Water Conservancy District - Plateau
Creek Pipeline Project

Introduction

The Ute Water Conservancy District's Plateau Creek Pipeline Replacement Project was
first presented to the Board in 1987. The purpose of this memo is to provide some
background on CWCB involvement with the project since 1987 and to update the Board
on the status of current project activities. Please see the attached Project Summary.

Need for the PrQject

The District service area encompasses about 240 square miles in the Grand Junction
metropolitan area with the exception of about seven square miles served by the City of
Grand Junction and several smaller communities, The District's current average annual
water demand is about 8,600 acre-feet. As of 1997, the customer base consisted of
17,437 taps and a service area population of about 60,000 people,

The District's primary source of water supply is from Plateau Creek, a tributary ofthe
Colorado River originating in Plateau Creek Canyon east of Grand Junction. Water is
collected from the tailrace of the Lower Molina Power Plant of the Bureau of
Reclamation's Collbran Project and is transmitted 4,5 miles to storage in Jeny Creek
Reservoirs as shown on the attached map.

From the reservoirs, water is transmitted by gravity to the District's water treatment plant
in the existing 24-inch diameter Plateau Creek Pipeline, a distance of about 15 miles, in
an alignment generally following Plateau Creek. The pipeline has inadequate hydraulic
capacity for existing demands, shows signs of deterioration, and is located in an
alignment subject to landslides and frequent stream erosion.

Roy Romer
Governor

James S. Lochhead
Executive Direaor, DNR

Daries C. Ule, P.E.
Director, CWCB