WSP03913

• File Number: 7630.350
• Description: Wild and Scenic-Los Pinos River
• State: CO
• Date: 1/1/3000
• Title: Los Pinos Reports and Supporting Material-Water Resources of El Rio de Los Pinos
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

.

.

" .R'\. ~t:::
"""1-1 J. ~
The average flow above Vallecito Reservoir is approximately

207 cfs, or 150,000 AF annually. The month of the highest stream

flows is June, almost entirely the result of snowmelt at higher

elevations.

In fact, the two runoff months, May and June, alone,

produce more than 50 percent of the stream runoff. Summer thunder-

storms may have tremendous periodic impact on stream flows but

have only a small effect on annual water production. Many major

floods in the southwest have occurred during the fall months,

October, for example (see hydrograph) .

Los Pinos River watershed is indeed a productive one. In

order to harness the abundance of this resource, several projects

have been designed and cast off.

The Emerald Lake Project, power site withdrawal number 219,

incorporated "two storage dams and reservoirs, one power plant, and

12.1 miles of conduits, flumes, tunnels and siphons."

Two dams would have been constructed. The Divide Lakes dam,

21,000 acre-feet, would have regulated the waters of the Pine. The

Emerald Lake dam would have increased the capacity of Emerald Lake

by 9,000 acre-feet and regulated the flow of Lake Fork. A power

plant would have been constructed at the headwater flow into Vallecito

Reservoir.

Additionally, in a Forest Service report titled "Water Power

Resources, San Juan National Forest. Colorado," 1940, by Robert E.

Farguhar, the Forest Service outlines a proposal to build a water

development system including "one storage dam and reservoir, three

diversion dams, one flume and three pipelines with a total length

of 7.2 miles, and two power plants."

-2-