WSP03221

• File Number: 8441.100
• Description: Colorado Big Thompson Project - Project Description
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 1/1/1950
• Title: The Colorado - Big Thompson Project
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Project Overview

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of a 69,000-volt, ~Rs-insulp.terl, sub~a~ine cable e~closed in a
S-inch diameter ste~l pipe that extends from portal to portal.
Auto"'l:>.tic l)ressur~-control eOJ.:i.!Jm~nt., insta".!.led at each portal,
regulates t~e dry nitrogen gas to ooe~at~ ~t Rn average pressure
of 200 pounds per s~uare inch.

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The oioe line oarall~ling: th~ l1ip'1wtAY to the east portal is
for t~~norarv U~~ of E,qst~rn ~lcpe ~ater users until perma~ent
facilitieR of the ><.:stes Park Aaueduct <:Inn Power System a"'e
completed 0 ~oTlstrllction of t!"is condl;it by the oil? Thompson Mutual
PiDe Line and Irriv.~tion Comprloy for the Nortl1ern r.olorado Water
~onservancy District ~er~its th~ ~iv~rsion of as ~uch as 50,000
acre-feet Ar.nuplly to ca~als along the Pi~ Tho~n~on oiver.

Trail ~idge qo~n

This fa'TIous road throllf::' the locky Vountain NAtional Park is
the highest continuous hi~hway in America. For fifteen miles this
highway ~~nds across th~ crest of the r.ontinental Divide above
timberline at ~levations ranging from 11,000 to 12,183 fe~t above
sea level. IndiMs used .8 nearly parallel route for their annual
trips from Estes Park ,"here they wintered to North and South Parks
where they hunted in ~ummero qocky Yountain National Park comprises
an area of 405 SQuare miles of the most spectacular sections of the
rugged ~ockieso It has ~ithin its boundaries 42 mountains ~ich
rise to ~levations of more than 12,000 feet--the highest being
Longs Peak ~~th an elevation of 14,255 feet above sea level.

Estes Park Aaueduct and POWA!" ~ystAm

This system receives the flow from the Alva R. Adams Tunnel--
transports the L~Dort~d water ~~st ~bout 5.5 miles--anrl utilizes
744 feet of fall between the E~st Portal 1eservoir And the Big
Tho~oson qiv~r near ~stes PRrk. Oetween the Aiams Tunnel and Marys
La~e ~Aservoir, the wAt~r oaSS8~ through the l.3-mile Aspen Creek
~iphon, the l~J-~ile qa~s Born Tunnel, and the Marys Lrtke Power
Fl8.nt. Between Varys Lak~ ~es~rvoi 'I"" ;m1 L:;ye ~stes on the Flig
Tho;r.'O~on 'qi'Ter, ':".hA \.t::et~!" D'lSSP.S th"'c'J.F"h the L7-mil"! long Prosoect
Yountain Corviuit ::::od Tunnel and the ~Rt~s ?o'."er PlMt.

Harvs LA-ke Po....pr Plant ~r.d ~eservoi.r (1948-1950). --The DO'FSr
plant, loc~ted on the ~~st~-~ s~ore of Va-ys Lake 1eservoir, is a
si.''l,Ele-u:lit Dlant '."l ~h an t:1stalled ca!)::l~i ty of 8,100 kilowatts
M1 an aver"<"e onera:.i!1r. he.:1.j 0: :;:12 feet ;;nri ...'ill have an average
annual oroduct.i on of aooroximately 47 million kiloV'.'att-hours. The
:'es~r'!cir occunies a natural b;tsin, enlarged by t1e cmstruction of
t~o small earth anj ~ockfill dikes, and prov'ides 1,149 acre-feet of
regulat~g can8city ~t el~vatlcn 8045~ r~ese featu~es, located

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