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Fort Collins Coloradoan 7 ByGAY<XlOK Of the CoJot8doan It was 11:30 p.m., Saturday, July 31. The night of the 81g Thompson flood. &b Berling's telephone rang. He answeJ"f'd It. "We've lost the slphon," the. person at the other end said. Berling is the project managt'r lor the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's sOuth PlaUe projects. Headquar. ters: Loveland te~ s1~n olas~: s~~~~B~~ 1llompson transmountaln water diversion project. As late <Ul10:30 p.m. Saturday the sJphon-a 22O-Ioot plpe that was nine feet In diameter and weighed a quarter-m1lllon tons-had spanned the Big Thompson River at the Narrows, carrying &KI cubic feet of water per second to Horsetooth Reservoir. Sometime durtng the next 56 mJnutes a bu1lding, whipped dovm the canyon by fioodwaters, hit a support brace on the south end of the siphon, knocking out the brace and dumping the sIphon Into the water. Moving at Hi m.p.h., the 0000- waters camed the siphon 600 yards downstream where it smashed Into a """"'. The house was crumpled by the impact and the siphon tv.1sted like anemptybeercan. The Bureau of Reclamation-and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District-had problems on their hands. Without the siphon, water from the Big Thompson project no longer could be dJverted into Horsetooth Reservoir. A part of the Charles Hansf!n FeederCanal was Inoperable. And three of the Bureau's five powerplants on the Eastern Slope were out. ~. ..~_. . . ...: - ~.r:.< .aIIt.. _~. '" .~ _ The large siphon smashed into the side of house several hundred yards down river Siphon knocked out, repairs under way 1930's droughts led to Big Thompson Proiect Lake Granby is the primary storage By 9 p.m. the Bureau shut the facWty tor the collection system. water flow off at Adams Tunnel. By Green Mountain Reservoir was built this time additional water from the to hold replacement water for the Western Slope was not nE'f'ded. Westem Slope. When It shut off the water at the ThIs system collects up to 310,000 tunnel, however, the Bureau lost the acre-feet of water annually-usually use of Its Marys Lake and Estes In 8J\OWtTIelt from the upper reaches powerplants. of the Colorado River Ba.sin. At about the same time the flow This water is transported from the from Adams Tunnel was stopped, western to eastern side of the. the Burf'8U began withdrawing Continental Divide through the 13. '0 water lrom Lake Estes at a mile AlVa B. Ada.rns Tunnel at the maxlmum rate and sending It rate ot 550 cubic feet per second. through the system to the Pole Hill According to a Bureau brochure, and Flatiron powerplants. from the east portal of the tunnel This was done to alleviate a "this water falls a total of about possible strain on Lake Estes 2,900 feet as It flows through a series 1 created by steadily failing rain and of tunnels, canals, powerplants and irtsing water in Dry Gulch. regulating reservoirs." By 10 p.m. the Lake Estes water Included In the Eastern Slope was being pumped to Carter and system are Marys Lake, Lake Esles, Horsetcoth reservoirs. The Big Plnewood and Flatiron reservoirs, Thompson Powerplant also was shut Carter Lake and Horsetooth down so water from that operation RE'l!E'rvolr and Ole Marys Lake would not be dumped into the Big Estes, Pole Hill, Flatiron and Bit Thompson River, n;>~~J:~=~~~fthe Adarls ~.~ ~:I~~~~~ ~~~~t ~~t~ Tunnel, the water first drops into because threeof Its five powerpl811ts Marys Lake Powerplant. At the foot were down-the byproduct of cur. of the plant, Marys Lake provides a talllng the flow of water from the forebay!rom whJch the water moves Western Slope. through another part of the system Nevertheless an equlllbrlum was and drops Into the Estes~,Power- being maintained-relieving the plant. . pressure on Lake Estes by moving Lake Estes Is formed by Olympus the w-ater through the Pole Hill and Dam, wl\.lch Is built over the Big Flatiron powerplants, generating Thompson River. It Is the afterbay power there, and moving the water storage for the Estes Powerplant. out to Carter and Horsetooth Water from there goes into:another .~rvolrs. system then drops into the Pole HUl ,/FtJen, as floodwaters rushed down Powerplant. _ . Uie.qmyon, the siphon went. From there It Is routed -~h '. ,J\Qrsetooth was lost as a storage ano~rsystemanddropped1~y;)1he Jaclll~. F1atirW1 Powerplant. ' \':I'tW Bureau had to redlvert the ThiSl",'plant discharges into the water", thereby Increasing the Flatiron Reservoir, which regulates ~ on Pinewood, Flatiron and water for release to the foothills Carter reservoirs. storage-distribution system. Berling began to worry about the Southward from Flatiron Flatiron reversible pump, the only Reservolr, the water Is delivered to system for moving water lrom Carter Reservoir, located west of FlaUron to Carter Reservoir. Berthoud. Northward from Flatiron. Suddenly that pump became "the the Charles Hansen Feeder Canal keyJink," said Berling. translXJrts water to the mgi'fI'ho!"p, If it went out power no longer son River and to Horsetooth could be generated at Pole Hill or Reservoir. Flatiron-the only two powerplants sWIin operation. . OOn~~~:;YP~O~gbe~~dr~~ ~i( th. pump went out and th. BWUu lost power at Pole HUl and F1itlron, It would ask other power col)'lpanlesfor assistance and Lssue a ~~~.!.1~appea1 for people to conserve energy. .. ~U tha(was not sufficient, Berling 9llld the.Bureau would have had to rons1deli"releaslng water down the ~ . te some Estes. Once the Conservancy D1str1ct had been fonned, qualified electors BEGINNING late Saturday rught in the district approved a contract and lasting tor a week, "We were In with the United States government a critical, vulnerable position," said for the Bureau tobu1ld the project. Berling. In 1938 construction of the Ironically, the Colorado-Big Colorado-Big Thompson project Thompson project began to take -estimated to cost $44 shape In the mid.l930s - because of mUUon-began. ~~ to . ""blt,h.d ,""port. By 1947 tho Bu".u w", "Dry winds were searing the arid generating some power, and the Iands from the eastern toe of the Conservancy District was Rocky Mountains to mld.continent. distributing some supplemental Shortage of water supply plagued water. the irrigators of Northern When the project was completed Colorado." in the late 1950's the ,cost had 'Ille agricultural economy was in climbed to $162 mI1lion. j(!opardy. By then control of the facilities Northern Coloradans in the South integral to Its part of the project had Platte River Basin decided to do been transferred to the Conservancy something about it-to develop a DIstrict. supplemt'ntal water supply by Under the terms of Its 1938 con. ~:~~ ::e/~;:~~ ;!st~ tract with the government, however, Slope of the Qmtlnental Divide for ~11:~,c~~~ee7~~t~~e~~ use on the eastern side where ad. 4G-year period and without llllerest. --~fo~-th~~~=. ;~f:-:~Ii~~~teadd~ti~~ ~Congress allocated $1ro,OOI ~~e~ g;o~ec~~~t:C~ not to the Bureau of Reclamation for a water diversion feaslb1lJty stl,ldY. Repayment under that contract Concurrently, work was under began In 1962. The Conservancy way in the Colorado legislature on District meets thls f1nanclal enablIng legislation for water obligation through water conservancy districts. assessments and a one-mlll ad 'That legislation-the Conservancy valorem tax on property in the District Act of.Co1orado-pused In district. May 1937. In September the Nor. them Colorado Water Conservancy '. TODAY THE Colorado.Blg District was lormed. It was the first 'Illompson project consists of a such district in the state. Today water coUectlon system on the there are 36. Western Slope, a tWUlel 3,800 teet By this time the water diversion below the surface of the Continental project had been pronounced Divide, a, pov.--er system on the feasible, and Congress had Eastern Slope and a foothills authorized U. storage.d1strlbution systt'm. It would have two functions. One Its servlce area covers 700,000 to generate hydroelectric power. acres In the South Platte River 'The other to distribute supplemental Basin. water. 'The Bureau would be in charge 01 On the Western Slope, four the power generating part of the reservoirs. four dams, two pumping project. Responslbillty for water plants and canaJs and waterways dlslrtbutlon would rest with the make up the collection system. Northern Colorado Conservancy FamUiar as popular recreational District, which had been created as areas, the reservoir system consists a political subdivision of the state fOJ: of Granby, Green Mountain, Willow that purpose. Creek and Shadow Mountain lakes. Port of the siphon was used to make culverts for the tern. porary rood back up the Thompson Conyon. after the flood when engineers were dispatched to assess the damage. In the three .....eeks that since have elapsed, the government executed a contract with Eaton Metal Products of Denver to make the pipe. And the F..agle Construction Company of Loveland was retained to install the siphon. As part of the siphon.replacement project, the Big Thompson dl\-erslon dam also w1ll be rebuilt and damage from sol! erosion below Olympus Dam will be repaired. ThIs work will cost an estimated $1.1 mllllon, to be shared equally between the Bureau and Con. servancy District. Although the district already has put up S4OO,OO) in emergency funds tor the work, Berling said It should be reimbursed through the Federal DIsaster Assistan~ AdrnJn1stration. 'Il1e target date for completion of the siphon repair Is Oct. HI . Although floodwaters knocked out a link of the Colorado-Big Thompson .."CfIa1n when "they washed out the siphon, It could have been worse. Had an adequate amOWlt ot water ,_. pot !)(>en stored in HOZ'Sfltooth, the -.;i(:bnservancy District might not lhave been able to meet the sup- plemental water needs ot users served by outlets trom the reservoIr. Yor starters, this could have had an: adverse Impact on the agricultural economy. . ; As It was: there were 88,000 acre- feet of water 1n the reservoir, enough for the Conservancy Dii.trkt to meet the needs of lrrigators and municlpaHndustrlal users \through the rest of the season. However, about 600 users between the Big Thompson and Horsetooth weren't as lucky. When the siphon went, the part of the Hansen Feeder Canal, from which they derive their water, became tnoperable, leaving them without water. To ameliorate the problem, the Conservancy Dislrlct Installed a temporary pump In the Big Thompson River at the mouth of the canyon. It ran a water line from the pump up over a hill to the Hansen Feeder Canal. And a power line to operate the system was brought In by the Bureau. Two weeks to the day after the - siphon went d~n, Big Thompson River water was being pumped into the canal, . Instead of moving at tIOO cubic feet per second as It dJd through the siphon, the water now moves at only 10 cubic feet per second. Nevertheless, the 600 users who depend on the largely Inoperable part of the Hansen Feeder Canal are receiving some supplemental water agaln. It will cost the Conservancy District an estimated $25,000 tQ operate this temporary pumping system for the two months It will take to replace the siphon. Again, Federal Disaster Assistance Ad. mlnJstration fund,> should cover this, Finally, numerous ditch com- ,pan1es and irrigators between the mouth of the canyon and Loveland were affected when diversion structures serving them were damaged or destroyed. Repairs, either of a temlXJrary or permanent nature, were completed within a week or two alter the flood, Berllngsald. However, when the final bill for that and other related work that mual ~ dI::me ~ \n ~\..'W\1.\ \d.a.l. about S175,ooo, he added. So, the repair work to the Colorado-Big Thompson project continues. By Oct. 15 or thereabouts the siphon-that smail but Integrall1nk in the system that was washed out by the brotal floodwaters that swept doYm the Big Thompson Canyon the night of July 31-should be restored. When that happens the process of refilling Horsetooth Reservoir for the next lrr1gation season can begin again, UP TO nns point the Bureau 18 lnvolved, becaust> eve.~g 'that happens is e.ssenUal to ita ~er operatJon. , That operation annu&;},.Iy ge!)el;l\tes 760 million Idlowatt-hours, mOst of =:s ~ ~~:~c &:~~~v~~ and cities In Colorado. I. ~.: According to Bureau statiStics, about 324,000 persol18 In COloiad~, are served with power generated b ,to or Bureau of Reclamation steP.8 out of the picture, and In steps the",-Nor- them Colorado Water Conser:vancy District, managing the delivery' o~ supplemental water to Irrigatolji and munlclpal.lndustrla1 users. Fort Collins and CQJoradQ',.s~te University receive some or }ha~ water lrom the Soldier. Cailyon., ouUet at Horsetooth-:tha 6U1k10"'the. " Big Thompson project waters go to )' Larimer, Weld and 8ou1~er coun. j of the ~~. ~~' C=:~=~i~:r; ~ ~roJect was so~eiong as the s}'stem works,1k.; , '~ Of it though distribution 1s'when Bob Berling's ;feiephooeJ , ~'Sf~!lhad to be replaced so rang at 11:30 p.m. the nith' o(,t1Ie\ '.... " ~.B~g:rhompsonwateragaln Big 1bompson flood the devasta'tirig ,ccxl. be stored in Horsetooth weather condlUons already had . taken a toll on the Colorado-Big Thompson project. ~' '. The first Indication the Bureau 01 Reclamation had that the rains were heavier than usual was when Its monitoring devices regtstered rIsJng water In Dry Gulch. By 8 p.m. the release of water trom Lake Estes to the Blg Thomp- Sen was cut of! because of the rising water in Dry Gulch. A 5"011 pump is now diverting water bock into the diver. sion p:oject,