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<br />4437 <br /> <br />The estimated annual generation of the first unit of the <br />Mt. Elbert Pumped-Storage Powerp1ant is 153.6 million kilo- <br />watt-hours of which about 66 million kilowatt-hours will <br />be produced from water routed through the Mt. Elbert Canal <br />or pipeline. Approximately 130 million kilowatt-hours of <br />pumping energy. will be required in the pumpback mP.de to <br />generate the remaining 87;6 million kilowatt-hours. The <br />second unit at Mt. Elbert will produce 153.6 million kilo- <br />watt-hours annually but it will require 228 million ki1owatt- <br />'hours of energy annually in the pumpback mode to produce <br />this energy. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />v. The six Project dams and reservoirs, either individually <br />or in total, should not cause an increase in seimic activity <br />in the development region. <br /> <br />Evidence, accumulated over s number of years, indicates that <br />seismic activity has occurred in association with the filling <br />of large reservoirs. Large reservoirs, as defined by the <br />Department of Commerce (1972), are ones impounded behind a <br />dam 300 feet or greater in height with a volume of at least <br />1 million acre-feet. <br /> <br />Pueblo Dam and Reservoir is the largest of the Project storage <br />features. The dam has a height of 191 feet from the streambed <br />tOthe,crest, and the reservoir has a total initial capacity <br />of 357,000 acre-feet which represents about 46 percent of the <br />Project's total storage capability. <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />Pueblo Reservoir, by definition, is not a large reservoir, <br />therefore, it will not be the cause of any reservoir induced <br />earthquakes. <br /> <br />From a physical viewpoint, the possible causes of seismic <br />activity and its relationship with reservoir filling are <br />presented below:. <br /> <br />(1) Preexisting faults must be present for any reservoir- <br />related earthquake (Carder, 1968). Earthquakes can be <br />triggered by the weight of the water which causes .movement <br />along the preexisting fau1ta previously considered inactive <br />(Gough and Gough, 1970). <br /> <br />(2) Evans (1966b) believes an increase .in pore pressure <br />can cause earthquakes. This increase results in a decrease <br />in sheer strength of the rock, which could, in turn, release <br />tectonic strain (Hubbert and RubeYi 1959). <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />IV-47 <br />