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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />4.0 WATER UTILIZATION <br /> <br />1.4 General <br />The objective of this feasibility analysis is to indicate how a small <br />component of reservoi r storage deri ved from El khead Lake enl argement mi ght <br />benefit the City of Craig. A full water utilization analysis would require a <br />systems analysis of the yield associated with Craig's entire array of direct <br />water rights and an incremental evaluation of the yield resulting from <br />reservoir enlargement. <br /> <br />A basic assumption had been made in proposing the participation of the City in <br />the Elkhead Lake enlargement. The assumption was that previous analyses had <br />demonstrated a need for raw water storage and that the 5,300 acre-feet of <br />storage proposed in the Estey-Simpson Reservoi r was needed and justi fi ed i ~ <br />relation to providing for the City's long range water needs. <br /> <br />It is beyond the scope of thi s study to make the complex deta il ed water <br />operations analysi s. For thi s reason two separate, more simpl ified <br />evaluations were made. The results are explained in this section. <br /> <br />The main objective of the water utilization analysis is to determine what <br />yield can be obtained for various increases in the reservoir storage <br />capacity. In one approach, the effect of drought conditions on the existing <br />system was examined. The second approach was based on an assumption that the <br />existing system could meet present needs; it determined the amount of safe <br />municipal yield that could be obtained from daily withdrawal from new storage. <br /> <br />4.2 Drought Protection <br />In the 1979 preliminary report by Norton, Underwood and Lamb, a dry year <br />scenario was presented which indicated only 50 percent of the Deep Cut Ditch <br />direct flow right, and none of the remaining water rights could meet extremely <br />dry year demands. Whil e all of the Deep Cut Di tch water is expected to be <br />available in normal years, in severely dry years the river could almost <br />entirely dry up at the intake structure for short periods of time. A <br />situation like this occurred in 1977 where the Yampa River reached flow rates <br /> <br />- 25 - <br />