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<br />
<br />Management Program for the agricultural sector.
<br />A . Petiti~n {or a Declaratory Judgment on the
<br />AllocatIOn Pnnciples was filed in the District Court
<br />Division A, Pueblo, Colorado on July 17, and wa~
<br />heard hy the Honorable Matt J. Kikel on October 23.
<br />Th~re were I~O protests against the Petition, and vol.
<br />unllnous tesUmon}" was presented hI," Officers of the
<br />District, Engineers and ConsultaIlts'- On October 28
<br />Judge Kikel .dt'nied the Petition, claiming he felt it
<br />was not consistent with the Contract with the United
<br />States Government. The members of the Board of Di.
<br />rectors im~nediately thereafter began meetings with
<br />representatives from the United States Bureau of Rec-
<br />lamation to ,amend those Section5 of the Repayment
<br />Contract which the Judge felt the Petition for Alloca.
<br />tion Principles conflicted with.
<br />
<br />MT. ELBERT VISITORS CENTER
<br />Work progressed well on the Ml. Elbert Power
<br />Plant, being constructed near the shore of Twin Lakes
<br />and of particular interest is the top floor of a fifteen:
<br />story building. The Mt. Elbert Power Plant will be a
<br />p~mpe~ ~ack storage hydroelectric power plant, which
<br />wIll utilize the Fryingpan-Arkansas and Homestake
<br />Project water for the manufacture of pollution free
<br />hp~aking P?wer," and this 200 megawatt plant re-
<br />qUlred a fifteen-story building. The United States
<br />Bureau of Reclamation, when designing the building
<br />and the penstocks, elected to bury fourteen stories of
<br />!he fifteen-story structure, and so when the building
<br />1S opened for operation in late 1076, the top floor
<br />will be a well designed Visitors Center. There, visitors
<br />from all over the world will be able to learn the history
<br />of the Project, the relationship of Federal, State and
<br />local agencies, in its development, and its long-range
<br />pla~l of oper~ti?l1. Visitors will actually have to get
<br />lIlslde the bUIldmg to realize they are on the fifteenth
<br />floor of a magsive powerplant structure.
<br />
<br />
<br />Ml. Elbert Pumped-Storage Powerplant
<br />
<br />15
<br />
<br />WATER ALLOCATION
<br />
<br />o
<br />
<br />On or before March 15 of each year, the United
<br />States Bureau of Reclamation advises the District as
<br />to the amount of Project water which they estimate
<br />will be available to lhe District that year. At about
<br />the same time, the District s~nds application letters
<br />and forms to eligible entities within the District, in-
<br />viting their reyuests for an allocation of Project water.
<br />
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<br />
<br />....
<br />ClO
<br />c.c
<br />CJ'
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<br />As has been previously slated in this Annual Report,
<br />the entire Project is 41 % complete, and, consequently,
<br />the amounts of water available to the District are con-
<br />siderably under the amounts which can be expected
<br />when the Project is totally complete. During the past
<br />three years, the Arkansas B3sin has encountered ex-
<br />tremely dry conditions, and the requests for Project
<br />water h<ive been two times, and in certain years, three
<br />times the amounts of water available.
<br />
<br />In March 1975. the Bureau awarded 15000 acre.
<br />feet to the District, which were allocated by the Board
<br />of Directors at their April meeting. In May the Bureau
<br />and the Board agreed to use 5,000 acre-feet of the
<br />Power Reserve because of the extremely dry conditions,
<br />and in June the Bureau awarded an additional 5000
<br />acre-feet because of the anticipated increased am~unt
<br />from the Collection System. The 2.5,000 acre-feet were
<br />allocated and delivered as noted on page 17 of this
<br />Report. It should be noted that the District has worked
<br />out a program with the State Engineer. whereby the
<br />Board is authorized to sell 40% of the net amount of
<br />Project water delivered as return flow. Said waters
<br />were subsequently allocated to four entities within the
<br />District as part of "augmentation plans."
<br />
<br />WINTER STORAGE PROGRAM
<br />
<br />In the 1930's, 40's and 50's, when the Fryingpan-
<br />Arkansas Project was first being talked about in the
<br />Arkansas Valley, representatives from the agricultural
<br />community suggested the possibility of including a
<br />feature in the Project which would provide storage
<br />capacity for storage. of decreed waters during the non-
<br />irrigation season. This concept was wholeheartedly
<br />endorsed by members of Congress from the Colorado
<br />River Basin States, who felt that such a Water Man-
<br />agement Program would provide better use for the
<br />native waters in addition to the benefits from the sup-
<br />plemental Colorado River water. Such storage capacity
<br />was designed into Pueblo Dam and Reservoir.
<br />
<br />I
<br />
<br />As has been reported in each Annual Report since
<br />1969, representatives from the District and the Bureau
<br />~orked diHgently each year meeting with representa-
<br />tIves fro III the Ditch, Canal and Irrigation Companies,
<br />which could benefit from such a Program~ attempting
<br />
<br />16
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