PROJ00476

• Contract/PO #: C153594
• Contractor Name: Handy Ditch Company
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 4
• County: Larimer
• Bill Number: HB 91-1006
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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CHAPlER I
GENERAL INFORMATION

A. Project Map - see Figure 1 on the following page,

B, Location
Handy Reservoir (Welch Reservoir) is an off-channel reservoir located in
Sections 3, 4, 5, B, 9 and 10, T4N, R69W of the 6th P.M. in Larimer County,
Colorado. The source of water is the Big Thompson River through a lateral
from the main Handy Ditch to the reservoir. Welch Reservoir is approximately
2.25 miles west and 1.25 miles north of the town of Berthoud, Colorado,

C, General
Originally Welch Reservoir was four separate lakes referred to as Lake
No.1, Lake No.2, Lake No.3, and Lake No, 4. At the time of the second
enlargement in 1950, the four Welch Lakes were combined into one operating
lake with an embankment between Lake Nos, 1 and 2 combined, and Lake Nos. 3
and 4 combined (see Figure 2), No.1 Outlet Works releases water from Lake
No, 1 and Lake No, 2 to the Welch Lateral. When the water surface elevation
is at approximately 24, the embankment separating Lake No. 1 and Lake No.2 is
exposed.
Welch Reservoir is a Class I high hazard dam with a hydraulic height of
34 feet. The storage capacity is approximately 6,750 acre feet at the high
water line; 8,515 acre feet at the emergency spillway, and 9,336 acre-feet at
the top of the dam. Surface area of the reservoir is about 475 acres at the'
high water line. The dam is earthfill composed of on-site materials faced
with imported sandstone riprap on the upstream slope,