PROJ00273

• Contract/PO #: C153368
• Contractor Name: Cache LaPoudre Water Development Study
• Water District: 0
• County: Larimer
• Bill Number: SB 81-439
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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CHAPTER I
IN'l'BODOC'l'IOH

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A. AU'ftlORITY

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In 1981, the Colorado General Assembly authorized the Colorado Water
Conservation Board to conduct studies of four potential water resources
development projects. Among these was "the Cache la Poudre Project -- an
integrated project up-stream of the town of Fort Collins on the Cache la
Poudre River" (section 7, S.B. 439).

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Expenditures for each of the studies was limited to not more than
$300,000. In addition, S.B. 439 specifies that future funding for the
potential projects" .. is contingent upon a showing that additional funding
is justified based on competent engineering and economic data."

B. STUDY OBJBC'rIVE

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The objective of this Cache la Poudre Project study was: to evaluate, at
a reconnaissance level of detail, the engineering and economic feasibility of
alternative projects which could develop new water supplies, improve the
management of already developed water, and provide hydroelectric power
production. The alternative projects may consist of one or more storage
reservoirs together with all appurtenances and associated features, including
hydropower facilities.

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Reconnaissance level studies (such as the Cache la Poudre Study) are not
intended to provide specific data or designs from which construction can
proceed. The intent of these studies is to investigate major concepts and to
identify and evaluate various alternative project configurations. An
evaluation of such alternative projects provides a preliminary indication of
project viability and is the basis for decisions of whether or not to proceed
with more detailed feasibility level studies.

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Consistent with the legislative intent of S.B. 439 and the constraints
imposed by time and budget limitations, this study did not analyze a "non-
structural" alternative nor evaluate the environmental and recreational
impacts of any of the alternative projects under consideration. Rather, this
study is limited to addressing the threshold questions of whether there
appears to be any project which may be feasible from an engineering and
economic point of view. Subsequent, detailed feasibility studies will, should
they be undertaken, need to thoroughly address all impacts, both beneficial
and adverse, of any potential project.

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C. STUDY AREA

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The Cache la Poudre River Basin lies in north-central Colorado on the
eastern slope of the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains. The Cache la
Poudre River Basin, totalling about 1,850 square miles in area, is composed of
two distinctly different geographical units. The mountainous upper basin,

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