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<br />.. .-..- <br /> <br />,,~,.', <br /> <br />amount of the Bureau of Reclamation's rights in Green Mountain <br />Reservoir, thereby relieving themselves of the Green Mountain <br />call. The Cities would then construct a 19-mile pipeline to pump <br />Green Mountain water up to Dillon Reservoir and across the divide <br />via Robert's Tunnel. Green Mountain would release 60,000 <br />a.f./year for required instream flow purposes and water would be <br />released from Wolcott Reservoir to generate power and to satisfy <br />the original purposes set forth for Green Mountain in Senate <br />Document 80. <br /> <br />Meanwhile, Aurora and Colorado Springs would cancel plans <br />for their Homestake II water project, and Denver would cancel its <br />plans for the Eagle-Piney water system. Water rights already <br />adjudicated for these projects would be transferred downstream <br />for storage in Wolcott Reservoir. Colorado Springs would gain <br />full control of all water presently being diverted by the <br />Homestake I project near Leadville (now owned by both Aurora and <br />Colorado Springs). <br /> <br />There are several problems with this plan which need to be <br />addressed before it becomes a feasible alternative: <br /> <br />1) permission to exchange Green Mountain water for Wolcott <br />water needs to be obtained from the U.S. Government and <br />would require an Act of Congress. <br /> <br />2) the status of Denver Water Board's 1971 Eagle River <br />water rights application is still uncertain. <br /> <br />At present, the Corps of Engineers is conducting a <br />systemwide and site-specific EIS for the Denver Water Board, The <br />Bureau of. Reclamation is preparing. an EIS _fo:t::ccthe~watet" sales. <br />opt ion, and the Water and PowerAuthbr fiy <is' evallJ.al{ingC:the - <br />"Green Mountain Exchange". Until -these-studies haveb-een- <br />completed, and a decision rendered, Green Mountaih will continue <br />to be a pawn in the "water wars" between east and west. <br /> <br />/bvm <br /> <br />-4- <br />