PROJC00189

• Contract/PO #: C150006
• Contractor Name: Palisade, Town of
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 72
• County: Mesa
• Bill Number: HB 95-1155
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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CHAPTER IV
RAW WATER SUPPLY

A. INTRODUCTION

The purpose of Chapter IV is to provide information on the raw water supply
system and present methodology and data for calculating the system yield of the Palisade
raw water supply system. The Palisade raw water supply system consists of three
components: 1) the actual water sources taken directly from streams and springs, 2) the
water rights associated with those flows, and 3) the collection, conveyance and storage
facilities which carry and hold the water.

The system yield is defined as the annual supply of water which can be delivered
to the Town of Palisade during a selected dry year period. It is a function of both
physical availability and legal availability. Physical availability depends on two factors:
1) the amount of basin or watershed yield as determined by hydrologic procedures, and
2) the capacity of infrastructure used to collect, convey and store the water in the upper
basin. The legal availability is determined by all the water rights owned by the Town of
Palisade and their relative priorities in the basin.

In this chapter, each component of the system which contributes to system yield
will be discussed in a separate section. This information will then be brought together
for use in an operations model which has been developed specifically for the Palisade
watershed. This is presented in the last section of the chapter. The operations model
evaluates basin yield, water rights, carrying and storage capacity under different dry and
wet year scenarios.

The chapter also includes a section on water quality which provides information on
the suitability of the raw water for use as a domestic water source.

Much of the information on water rights, watershed yield and the operations model
were developed by Hydrosphere Resource Consultants in Boulder, Colorado. A copy of
their complete report is included in the Appendix.

B. DESCRIPTION OF WATERSHED

1. Geographical Setting.

The watershed which supplies water for the Town of Palisade is located in
the upper drainage areas of Rapid Creek and Cottonwood Creek on the
northwest slopes of the Grand Mesa (Figure IV-I). Cottonwood Creek is
tributary to Rapid Creek, which enters the Colorado River about I mile
below the confluence of the two streams. Rapid Creek has an overall
length of about 9.4 miles; Cottonwood Creek has a stream channel length

IV-I