BOARD01957

• Board Meeting Date: 3/21/2006
• Description: CF Section - Fish and Wildlife Resources Fund - Colorado River Water Conservation District - Elkhead Reservoir Mitigation Plan Grant Request
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Summary
Elkhead Reservoir Enlargement Project

Elkhead Reservoir was constructed in 1974 by the Colorado Division of Wildlife to provide
fishing and recreation in the vicinity of Craig, Colorado, and emergency cooling water for the
Craig coal- fired power station now owned by the Yampa Participants and operated by Tri -State
Generation and Transmission (Tri-State). The reservoir was constructed with a storage capacity
of approximately 13,800 acre-feet, 8,310 acre-feet dedicated to emergency cooling water supply
and 5,490 acre-feet dedicated to fishing and recreation. The Yampa Participants own only water
in the reservoir and no portion ofthe property or reservoir facilities.

In 1990 the City of Craig "purchased" the reservoir from the CDOW to provide water supply
storage for the City and to assure the quality ofthe recreation resource at the facility. The
purchase agreement contained conditions which were completed in 2002.

The Recovery Program for Endangered Fishes of the Upper Colorado (Recovery Program) has
considered options for augmenting flows in the Yampa River since 1989. A wide range of
alternatives for storage and water management were considered from 1990 through 2004. In
November 2004 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued "A Management Plan For
Endangered Fishes in the Yampa River Basin and Environmental Assessment" (Yampa Plan)
identifying an enlargement of Elkhead Reservoir as the preferred alternative for enhancing
stream flows for the listed fishes. The current enlargement includes the implementation of the
recommendation ofthe Yampa Plan for flow augmentation storage supply.

The enlargement of Elkhead Reservoir will add approximately 11,750 acre-feet to the existing
reservoir volume by raising the active pool 20 feet. The allocation of the enlargement pool is as
follows:

Recovery Program pool
River District pool leased to the Recovery Program for 20 years
River District contract pool

5,000 acre-feet
2,000 acre-feet
4,750 acre-feet

Current estimates of overall project costs are $30,945,500.

Our estimate ofproject costs allowed for grant computation purposes under C.R.S. 37-60-122.2
paragraph 2(d) is $20,971,082 based on expenditures to date and anticipated expenditures.