PROJ00190 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I During winter periods, the vast majority of the senior appropriators in the Colorado River Basin are not using water. However, the Shoshone Power Plant near Glenwood Springs can call for up to 1,250 cubic feet per second (cfs) at any time during the year. Even though water uJage in the winter is far below that of the irrigation season, flows are also much less. The Shoshone decree is also senior to most of the Blue River historic rights, and obviously senior to all winter flow rights on the Blue River as well as to many of those on the Colorado River. The Shoshone plant has not in the past called for water from the Blue River drainage. One reason for this is that releases at the Green Mountain Reservoir lower on the Blue River, for purposes of local power produc- tion, have helped satisfy needs at the Shoshone facility. However, should the Green Mountain Reservoir water be contracted for by others, such as oil shale or coal developers, this "free" water may cease to be available to the Shoshone plant, thereby causing potential for a call to be placed on the river, possibly as far upstream as the Blue River. #~ Even though nearly all of the winter flow rights for the Blue River Water District are for adjudication dates of 1968 or later, there is presently little danger of these being called out during the winter by appropriators other than the Shoshone plant, since most of these other users are small municipalities with low demands. However, this could change as some downstream senior industrial use conditional decrees become perfected. 111-5 .