WSP03264

• File Number: 8449.913
• Description: Foothills/Windy Gap Project
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 1/1/1977
• Author: Denver
• Title: Final Analysis - Foothills Project
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

,;

An examination of the three technical components that con-
stitute an adequate water supply will reveal why no competent
utility planner could dispute the results of an analysis of these
three factors which require the conclusion that the Foothills
project is needed now.

Quantity was the first factor of the "adequacy" test which
was examined prior to deciding upon the necessity for the Foot-
hills Project. This factor was determined using standard principles
employed throughout the utilities planning field. These principles
include an analysis of average yearly consumption, peak day demand,
peak hour demand, and the quality of raw water in the system as
described by adherence to the strict standards set forth by the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and American Water Works
Association.(AWWA). These standards have never been disputed and
have no substitutes. Any attempt to design a water utility system
without reference to these exacting standards would be the equiva-
lent of attempting to design a moon rocket while ignoring the
subject of astrophysics.

Foothills was designed to meet the standards for the quantity
of water to be available for the projected population of the ser-
vice area based upon recognized water utility, AScE and AWWA
standards. What source do the opponents cite for their estima-
tions of required quantities?

Of course, these standards can be applied for any number of
years in the future. The ultimate size of the filter plant was
designed using these standards and projected populations for the
year 2001. The plant was designed employing economic principles
such as economies of scale and weighing marginal benefits versus
costs of system components. For example, the dam used to divert
water from the river to the filter plant would be the same size
in any event, but the tunnel from the dam to the filter plant and
the filter plant plumbing have been designed to accommodate incre-
mental expansion as the demands for filtered water increase.
These provisions for future expansion were provided at minimal
cost to the project. A note of caution is needed here; the Foot-
hills project, as proposed, is the result of sophisticated utility
"value judgments." Any attempt at simplistic value judgments by
other than experts who attempt to analyze the total project by
breaking out single components of the total analysis can lead to
misleading, faulty conclusions.

The second facet of the adequacy of analysis is quality. It
is obvious that laymen, project opponents, should not presume to
intrude their own standards of acceptable water quality into the
planning of every utility system component. Therefore, the Board
of Water Commissioners, in its attempt to provide the latest,
state of the art, water treatment facilities, cannot be criticized
even by the opponents of the project. In fact, both the Board of
Water Commissioners and the federal Environmental Protection Agency

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