WSP03767

• File Number: 8141
• Description: Fryingpan-Arkansas Project
• State: CO
• Basin: Arkansas
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 12/9/1960
• Author: SEWCD
• Title: Brochure No. 2 - Operating Principles Fryingpan Arkansas Project And Excerpts From Letter To Secretary Of Interior
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

ing Fork River above the town of Aspen which might
occur as a result of the project ~nlargement of the
Twin lakes Reservoir, the Ashcroft Reservoir on Castle
Creek, or some reservoi.r in lieu thereof, shall be con.
structed on the Roaring Fork drainage above Aspen
to a capacity of approximately 5,000 ocre-fee~: PRO-
VIDING HOWEVER That the A.heraft Re.ervalr .hall
be con~trl,Jcted onl~ if the Secretar~ of the. Interior
after appropriate study shall determine that Its bene-
fit. exceed the co.I., AND PROVIDING FURTHER, That
no port of the construction, operation, or mainten.
once of said Ashcroft Reservoir sholl be chargeable
to the Fryingpan-Arkonsas project,

3. The receipts from the sale of water from
Ruedi Reservoir, os permitted in paragraph 6(b) he~e-
of, sholl be applied solely to the operation and ma.m-
tenance costs and to those re'lmbursable construction
costs of said reservoir which exceed $7,600,000. The
cost of perpetual operation and maintenance of .the
Ruedi Reservoir sholl be borne by users of pr~le,ct
water and users of water stored in Ruedi ReservoIr In
such proportion os may be determined by the Secre-
tory of the Interior.

5. .The Ruedi Reservoir shall be completed and
in operation before any water is diverted to eastern
Colorado by means of the proiect.

'6. (a) The replacement capacity of Ruedi Reser-
voir, and any reservoir constructed in ~ddition .there-
to, is that portion of the total reservOir c.opoclty re-
quired to permit project diversions at tImes when
such diversions could not otherwise be made because
of simultaneous demands of senior diversions in west-
ern Colorado existing at the time of the adoption of
these operating principles, and shoJI be so operated
to accomplish this purpose. Water .stored In such
capacity s.hall be released by the United States, up-
on the request of the Colorado Stote engineer, to the
extent thot water would have been available to said
decreed rights except for stream depletion resulting
from diversions by this project to the Arkansas Valley.

(b) The regulatory capacity of Ruedi Reservoi:,
and any reservoir constructed in addition thereto, IS
that portion of the total reservoir capacit~ not needed
for replacement purposes. Water stored In such cate-
gory may be sold or leased by the United States to
water users in Colorado for any purpose recog-
nized by the laws of the United States: PROVIDED,
That the sole of water for use outside the natural
basin of the Colorado River can only be mode with
the consent of the Colorado River Water Conserva-
tion Distri~t. Charges for the use of such water shall
be established by the Secretary of the Interior by
appropriate contract in accordance with the payment
ability of such water users,

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7. The primary purpose of Ruedi Reservoir, and
any reservoir constructed in addition thereto, is to
furnish, to the extent of its capacity, in like manner os
if the project were constructed by a water conserv-
ancy district organized pursuant to the laws of the
State of Colorado, the water required for the pro-
tection of western Colorado water users by the pro-
visions of Colorado Revised Statutes 1953, 149-6~ 13,

9. The respective decrees which may be or have
been awarded to the parties hereto as 0 part of the
Fryingpan-Arkansas project and Basalt project shall
be administered by the proper officials of the State
of Colorado in accordance with the applicable laws
of the State of Colorado, and with the fOllOWing
principles and procedures, to wit:

(1) Thot the demand on the waters available
under such decrees sholl be al/ocated in the follow-
ing sequence:

(a) For diversion to the Arkansas Volley through
the collection system and the facilities of the Frying_
pan-Arkansas project in on amount not exceeding an
aggregate of 120,000 acre-feet of water in any year,
but not to exceed a total aggregate of 2,352,800
acre-feet in any period of 34 consecutive years reck-
oned in continuing progressive series starting with
the first full year of diverSions, both limitations here-
in being exclusive of Roaring Fork exchanges as pro-
vided in (c) below, and exclusive of diversions for
the Busk-Ivanhoe decree; and with the further and
absolute limitation that in order to protect existing
and future beneficial uses of water in western Colo-
rado, including recreational and fishing values, the
State engineer shall so regulate the transmountain
diversions above referred to, to the end that no di-
versions shall be made which will reduce the remain-
ing aggregate streamflows to less than the minimum
standards.

(b) For storage in Ruedi Reservoir to the extent
of its actual capacity, which is to be not less than
100,000 acre-feet.

(2) The effectuation of the above principles re-
quires concurrent Fryingpan-Arkansas project diver.
sian and Ruedi Reservoir storage to be accomplished
in the manner following: The State engineer annual.
Iy shall collect pertinent data, including information
pertaining to snow pack and all other available
evidence, and shall thereafter so divide and appor-
tion the surface runoff as to achieve, as nearly os
possible, the foregoing diversion of water and the
maximum of concurrent diversions and storage. The
diversions herein contemplated shal/ be on the basis
of a water year hereby defined as that interim of
October 1 through the follOWing September 30,

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