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<br />~ <br />~ <br /> <br />u022H <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD <br />102 Columbine Building <br />1845 Sherman Street <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br /> <br />March 6, 1975 <br /> <br />STAFF INTERIM REPORT <br />COAL CREEK PROJECT <br /> <br />I NTRODUCTI ON <br /> <br />The proposed Coal Creek project is contemplated as a joint <br /> <br /> <br />municipal water supply system for the cotnrOunities of Erie, Lafayette, <br /> <br /> <br />Louisville and Superior. These cotnrOunities are located within the <br /> <br /> <br />Coal Creek Basin of Boulder and Weld Counties. Coal mining provided <br /> <br /> <br />the original impetus for the development of the four cotnrOunities. <br /> <br />An irrigated agricultural industry developed concurrently with coal <br /> <br /> <br />mining and presently accounts for most of the land use within the <br /> <br />basin. Farming in the area, on the basis of economic return, is <br /> <br />marginal. <br /> <br />The water resources of the Coal Creek Basin are extremely limited. <br /> <br /> <br />Coal Creek produces about an average of 3,000 acre-feet annually. <br /> <br /> <br />Present water uses within the basin are largely dependent on importa- <br /> <br /> <br />tions from nearby South Boulder. Creek. This latter stream produces <br /> <br />an average an~ual surface runoff of about 55,000 acre-feet of water. <br />The present population of the project area is estimated at 12,400 <br />people, with an existing service area of about 3,840 acres. The com- <br />bined and mutually supported growth plans of the four cotnrOunities <br />contemplate a population of 50,000 people and a service area of 30,850 <br />acres by the year 1990. <br /> <br />The population growth in the area has been very slow over the <br /> <br /> <br />years, largely as a result of inadequate water supplies. Lying between <br />