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<br />00596 <br /> <br />13. That the availability of water supports development is <br />obviously true. Therefore, the linking of water management <br />to the management of other public services and to the frame- <br />work of regulatory and financial controls defines water's <br />role in shaping urban growth. <br /> <br />14. Finally, water's role in urban development, even when linked <br />to other public decisions, is confined. ~Iater supply <br />supports development in an overall sense; it could not be <br />instrumental in creating specific forms of urban growth, such <br />as influencing higher or lower densities of development. <br /> <br />IMPACTS OM THE ~ESTERN SLOPES <br /> <br />Specific requests have been made to MRD for a review of impacts <br />on the western slope resulting from Denver's continued importation of <br />water. The two areas of concern were identified on page one of this <br />newsletter as water quality and the operating regime of Dillon <br />Reservoir. <br /> <br />Dillon Reservoir, with one-quarter of a million acre-feet of <br />active storage, serves as the collection and diversion point for <br />transfer of water from the Blue River through the Roberts Tunnel for <br />ultimate use in the Denver Water Department's system. Prior water <br />rights prevent Denver from diverting all the flow of the Blue River <br />to the east; the exact amount to be released down the Blue and into <br />the Colorado depends upon whether the year is wetter or dryer than <br />normal and the resultant exercise of senior rights. The average <br />annual water supply, as reported in the Final Environmental Statement <br />is 124,000 acre-feet delivered to the eastern slope. After adding <br />operating losses of 5% this amounts to an average annual diversion of <br />131,000 acre-feet from Dillon Reservoir. This quantity is used in the <br />analyses which follow. <br /> <br />The western slopes of the Rocky Mountains lie outside the Missouri <br />River Basin, and hence outside the working experience of MRD. For this <br />reason, and because the U. S. Geological Survey is a recognized authority <br />in the field of water quantity and water quality, MRD entered into an <br />agreement with that agency to analyze these issues in the Water Resources <br />Division of its Colorado District. Although a final report has not been <br />completed, preliminary technical analysis has been furnished to MRD. It <br />forms the basis for the material to fo11ovl. <br /> <br />7 <br /> <br />