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MWSI Project Phase" Conjunctive Use Summary Report - DRAFT August 22, 1.995 No new significant facilities would be required under a conjunctive use plan for storage or water transmission in the environmentally sensitive mountain areas, Sites for peaking storage reservoirs on the plains exist in several locations, and can be selected to minimize environmental impacts. In addition, there may be some environmental impact concerns with the extensive system of collection and distribution pipelines proposed, but again these should be minimal, and should be avoidable with proper pipeline routing, At the same time, this project has a significant water resources management advantage in that groundwater resource depletion may potentially be eliminated, This should be considered a significant advantage under the plan. Recommendations for Phase III Study Phase III of the MWSI Project should include additional study of conjunctive use in significantly greater detail. The conjunctive use model should be refined to allow for disaggregation of'surface supplies and reservoirs. Various levels of surface water supplies available for conjunctive use plan, reflecting DW's alternate means for using its supplies to meet its service area requirements, should be considered in a sensitivity anaIys1s, DW has recently completed a new system model developed under their Integrated Resource Plan. This model should be utilized in conjunction with the conjunctive use model developed in this study to refine and better understand the amount of yield that can be developed by a conjunctive use plan and the potential impacts and costs of new infrastructure required. Other sources of surface supply should be included in the analysis including exchangeable flows and surface supplies from other providers, depending upon their interest in potentially participating in a conjunctive use plan. This latter category could include surface supplies available in the South Platte/Clear Creek confluence area, as possibilities exist to utilize these surface flows in a conjunctive use arrangement involving the Burlington Ditch system and a well field in the northeast Metro area. The water rights implications of various conjunctive use arrangement should also be included in Phase III investigations, possibly through incorporation into the conjunctive use model. Augmentation requirements for recharge and use of storage rights under increased drawdown schemes should particularly be evaluated. The Phase III Study should also focus on developing a program of operating rules which work under the borrowing and payback schemes conceptually developed in this study. The result of the Phase III Study should be a better defined estimate of the yield that can be developed and a detailed set of operating rules and parameters, In addition, the Phase III Study should work with DW to investigate the use of the Foothills Water Treatment Plant and the DW treated water distribution system. 46