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<br />5 <br /> <br />expanded. The District Includes all of Englewood and Littleton and more than <br />half of Denver, While only a small portion of the City of Aurora lies within <br />the District it diverts all of Its surface water supply from the reach of the <br />South Platte Basin administered within District 8. The cities of the area <br />obtain their water supplies from ground and surfac~ water sources which <br />Include the South Platte River, the Colorado Rlvel' and its tributaries and <br />from ather west slope streams. <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />The major water user In the area Is the City of Denver, which Is presently <br />serving a population of almost 700,000, both within and beyond the city <br />limits. Early settlers of the Denver area obtained water from the South <br />Platte River and Its tributaries and from Individual wells. In 1872 an <br />Investor-owned company was formed to supply water to a population of approxi- <br />mately 5,000 people. This, and other private companies which had come Into <br />being, were consolidated by the organization of the Denver Union Water Company <br />in 1894, In existence for 24 years the company further developed the South <br />Platte River as a primary source of water and completed Cheeseman Dam and <br />Reservoir in 1904. <br /> <br />The Denver Union Water Company was purchased by the City and County of Denver <br />in 1918 and placed under the control of a Board of Water Commissioners. The <br />Water Board continued development of the South Platte River source and completed <br />the construction of Eleven Mile Canyon Dam in 1932, In 1936 West Slope water <br />was diverted from the Fraser River, Vasquez Creek, and Jim Creek through <br />the Moffat Tunnel, and delivered to Denver via South Boulder Creek and the <br />South Boulder diversion system. These facilities known as the Moffat Collection <br />System were subsequently extended to include diversions from Ranch Creek and <br />St. Louis Creek. Regulatory storage was provided for this water by completion <br />of Ralston Reservoir on Ralston Creek in 1938 and Gross Reservoir on South <br />Boulder Creek In 1955. <br /> <br />10- <br /> <br />Control of the Williams Fork Dam, Williams Fork Collection System, and Jones <br />Pass Tunnel originally constructed by a governmental unit of the City of Denver <br />was assumed by the Denver Water Board in 1955. Upon completion of the Vasquez <br />Tunnel in 1959 water from the headwaters of the Williams Fork River was diverted <br />into the Moffat System. The Williams Fork Reservoir stores water which Is used for <br />exchange'. ,A power plant was added during' the period: 1956 to-1959' to provide <br />add i t i ona I wa ter tor exchange and rep I-acemen t power. Cons t ruc t I on of the <br />Harold D. Roberts Tunnel, started in 1946, was completed in 1962. 1964 saw <br />the completion of Dillon Dam and the initial diversions of water from the Blue <br />River System through the Roberts Tunnel to the South Platte River, Water <br />derived from the Fraser River'--, Hoffat Tunnel System is treated at the Moffat <br />Rapid Sand Filter Plant, having a present capacity of 150 million gallons per <br />day and a future capacity of 190 million gallons per day. The Ralston Reservoir <br />serves as a forebay for this plant. Blue River water conveyed through the <br />Roberts Tunnel and then through the South Platte River is treated by the Marston <br />Treatment Plant or the Kassler Plant prior to distribution in the Denver system, <br /> <br />,j <br /> <br />The city of Aurora which formerly had two separate systems, one of which waS <br />served by the Denver Water Board, now is receiving water from Its share of the <br />Homestake Project which has been constructed through a joint effort of Aurora <br />and Colorado Springs, The project includes the 225 foot high rockfill Homestake <br />Dam located on the middle fork of Homestake Creek in Eagle County on the west <br />slope which forms a reservoir having a design capacity of 45,000 acre-feet, <br />Water Is delivered from Homestake Reservoir to the 5.5 mile 10-foot diameter <br />