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<br />....J <br /> <br />The purpose of the Study has been to estimate water yields for alternative Joint-Use <br />Reservoirs and alternative Green Mountain Reservoir water exchange projects and to develop <br />preliminary designs and cost estimates based on an approximately uniform level of investigation. <br />This information is required prior to any decision on the next level of development of these <br />projects. <br /> <br />1.1 <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />Construction of Green Mountain Reservoir on the Blue River was initiated by the Bureau <br />of Reclamation (USSR) in 1938 as a component of the Colorado-Big Thompson (CBT) Project. <br />Completed in 1959, the CBT Project collects water from the upper reaches of the Colorado River <br />Basin and delivers it through the Adams Tunnel to the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy <br />District for some 125 water-user organizations in Northeastern Colorado. Of the total Green <br />Mountain Reservoir capacity of about 154,000 af, 52,000 af is allocated for replacement of out-of- <br />priority diversions by the CBT Project. This enables the CBT Project to divert water near Granby <br />during periods when flows would otherwise have to be bypassed to satisfy senior water rights. <br />The remaining capacity of Green Mountain Reservoir (approximately 100,000 af) is reserved for <br />power generation and beneficial uses in Western Colorado. <br /> <br />The collection system for the Roberts Tunnel includes Dillon Reservoir, completed in <br />1963, on the Blue River upstream of Green Mountain Reservoir. Flows diverted from Dillon <br />Reservoir through the Roberts Tunnel enter the North Fork of the South Platte River and then the <br />Metropolitan Denver Water Supply. The water rights for the Roberts Tunnel Collection System <br />are junior to those of Green Mountain Reservoir. <br /> <br />JOINT-USE RESERVOIR: The operational relationships between the Dillon Reservoir- <br />Roberts Tunnel sysfem and Green Mountain Reservoir have been prescribed in various federal <br />court decrees. As a result of these decrees, Dillon Reservoir can store water out-of-priority with <br />respect to Green Mountain Reservoir, subject to certain provisions, If Green Mountain Reservoir <br />does not fill during the spring runoff, water is released from Dillon Reservoir to Green Mountain <br />Reservoir. With permission of the USBR, however, this obligation can be satisfied through a <br />water exchange. Water can be released from some other reservoir to replace water that <br />otherwise would have to be released from Dillon Reservoir. <br /> <br />i <br />I <br />-- <br /> <br />1-2 <br />