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<br />("Ij,r <br />'2..>,,-u <br /> <br />Tunnel conveys water collected by the West S lope Collection System under the Continental <br />Divide and into Turquoise Lake on the East Slope. The tunnel is 5 miles long and has a <br />water conveyance capacity of 945 cubic feet per second (ft' Is)' <br /> <br />Sugarloaf Dam and Turquoise Lake are located on Lake Fork Creek, a tributary of the <br />Arkansas River, about 5 miles west of Leadville, Colorado. The lake has a total capacity <br />of 129,:398 acre-feet at a water surface elevation of 9869.4 feet. The lake is operated to <br />provide regulation of both Project and non-Project water imported from the West Slope. <br />Turquoise Lake is operated on an annual cycle, as is Ruedi Reservoir. The lake is drafted <br />through the Mt. Elbert Conduit during the winter to provide adequate space for the spring <br />imports of West Slope water. Most of the native inflow from Lake Fork Creek is <br />impounded in the lake and returned to the Arkansas Rivervia the Mt. Elbert Conduit, the <br />Mt. Elbert Powerplant, and Twin Lakes. The lake is also operated to provide for <br />recreation and wildlife habitat. <br /> <br />The Mt. Elbert Conduit conveys Project, non-Project, and native Lake Fork Creek water <br />from Turquoise Lake to Twin Lakes. The conduit is 10.7 miles long and has a water <br />conveyance capacity of 370 ft'/s. Nativewaterfrom Halfmoon Creek is also added to the <br />conduit and returned to the Arkansas River from Twin Lakes Dam. All conduit flow which <br />reaches the Mt. Elbert Forebay is used to. generate electricity at the Mt.Elbert <br />Powerplant as it is delivered to Twin Lakes. <br /> <br />The Mt. Elbert Powerplant is a pumped-storage facility located on the shore of Twin <br />Lakes, It has two 100-megawatt turbine generators, which can be reversed and used as <br />340,OOO-horsepower pumps. In addition to being used to generate energy with the Mt. <br />Elbert Conduit flow, the plant is used to follow daily peak power loads. This load <br />following is accomplished by pumping water to the Mt. Elbert Forebay, an ll,143-acre- <br />foot regulating pool at the terminus of the Mt. Elbert Conduit, from Twin Lakes during <br />off-peak load hours using surplus or low cost energy. That water is then returned to Twin <br />Lakes through the turbines during peak load hours, along with the Mt. Elbert Conduit <br />flow. The energy generated at the plant is transmitted and marketed by the Western Area <br />Power Administration, with the revenues applied to the repayment of the Project. <br />I <br /> <br />Twin Lakes Dam and Twin Lakes are located on Lake Creek, a tributary of the Arkansas <br />River, about 13 miles south of Leadville, Colorado. Twin Lakes has a capacity of <br />140,855 acre-feet at a maximum water surface elevation .of 9200 feet. The reservoir is <br />operated to regulate both Project and non-Project water imported from the West Slope. <br />The Project water stored in the reservoir is released to Lake Creek for storage in Pueblo <br />Reservoir during the winter months, in anticipation of spring imports from the West <br />S lope. Native inflows into Turquoise Lake, native flows diverted from Halfmoon Creek, <br />and native inflows into Twin Lakes, are all released to Lake Creek from the Twin Lakes <br />Dam. The cities of Colorado Springs and Aurora take direct delivery of water from the <br />reservoir through the Otero Pipeline. The operation of Twin Lakes also provides for <br />recreation and wildlife habitat. <br /> <br />2 <br />