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<br />,r <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Potential Poudre River Water Development <br /> <br />Over many years, water user organizations and the U.S. Bureau of <br />Reclamation have identified six possible, yet unbuilt, dam and reservoir <br />sites between the headwaters of the Poudre and the canyon mouth above Fort <br />Collins. Water resource investigations were conducted by the Bureau in <br />192B, 1954, 1959, and 1963. The 1963 U.S.B.R. Reconnaissance Report <br />presented a comprehensive plan of development which included several dams <br />and reservoirs, two hydroelectric power plants, support facilities, <br />diversions, and substations on the Poudre mainstem above the canyon's <br />mouth. <br /> <br />Decades ago, the Cities of Fort Collins and Greeley secured land and <br />water rights for the Rockwell Reservoir in contemplation of future <br />development on the South Fork of the Poudre River. <br /> <br />Water rights were claimed by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy <br />District (NCWCD) for the Idy1wi1de and Indian Meadows Reservoirs and the <br />Grey Mountain Reservoir, all on the Poudre mainstem above the canyon's <br />mouth. <br /> <br />Future Water Demand <br /> <br />During the past si~ years, an annual average of appro~imately 22B,710 <br />acre-feet of water per year was lost from the Poudre Basin because of <br />inadequate storage, (See Appendix D). Based on engineering calculations, a <br />long-term average yield of at least 60,000 acre-feet of water annually <br />could be conserved, if adequate storage were developed and efficiently <br />managed above the canyon mouth west of Fort Collins. <br /> <br />Median 19BO population of the Poudre service area has been projected <br />to grow from nearly 150,000 to 595,000 persons by the year 2030, according <br />to data from the State Demographer's Office, the U.S. Census Bureau, and <br />local cou~ci1s of government. <br /> <br />Total municipal and industrial water demand is projected to increase <br />from 40,000 acre-feet annually in 1984, to 130,000 acre-feet annually in <br />2030. <br /> <br />Disagreement Regarding the 1984 Wild and Scenic River Bill <br /> <br />In the fall of 1983, Representative Brown formed a Citizen's Advisory <br />Committee composed of local water user groups which strongly opposed <br />federal Wild and Scenic River designation and local environmental groups <br />which strongly supported such designation. The Advisory Committee's charge, <br />was to recommend whether Wild and Scenic legislation should be introduced <br />by Congressman Brown and, if so, what the contents of' that legislation <br />should be. <br /> <br />0928 <br /> <br />-3- <br />