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,.., ,/' .~ ~ c\Z (;~,' "~TJ ;."?~ COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD 102 Columbine Building 1845 Sherman Street Denver, Colorado 80203 March, 1975 WEST DIVIDE PROJECT The West Divide project lies in parts of Garfield, Mesa and Pitkin counties in west-central Colorado. Specifically, the majority of the project lands lie between Glenwood and DeBeque on the mesas south of the Colorado River. Most of the municipal and industrial service area is the towns and oil shale areas along the Colorado River Valley at the base of the Roan Plateau which contains some of the world's richest 011 shale deposits. The eastern portion extends to the town of Carbon- dale, the center of some coal mining activities in the nearby canyons. The project was authorized by the Congress in 1968 as a partici- pating project of the Colorado River Storage Project. The West Divide Water Conservancy District was organized in 1964 as the sponsoring and contractual agency for the project. This district includes portions of Garfield, Mesa and Pitkin counties. Plan of Development (Feasibility Report) The West Divide project is planned to provide water for irrigation and for municipal and industrial use in connection with development of natural resources in the area. It also would provide benefits to rec- reation, fish and wildlife and flood control. Project water would be obtained from a series of Colorado River tributaries south of the river. Crystal River flows would be regulated at Placita Reservoir. Some reservoir releases would be made directly to the river for downstream uses. Most of the releases, however, would be diverted into the Huntsman Canal and conveyed westward to West Divide Creek for subsequent distribution in the western portion of the project area by the East and West Divide Canals. The diverted flows would be supplemented by water stored in Haystack Reservoir on small tributaries of West Divide Creek. Natural flows at Haystack Reservoir would be augmented by flows of nearby streams diverted by feeder canal. Yank Creek Reservoir would be constructed on North Thompson Creek to meet project needs in the eastern portion of the project area. Releases from this reservoir would be distributed by the Fourmile Canal. Irri- gation laterals would be constructed from the main project canals, and drains would be provided as needed. Municipal and industrial water would be made available for use in the area. Facilities for reregula- tion, distribution, and treatment of the municipal and industrial supply would be the responsibility of the water users. Recreational develop- ments would be provided by the Forest Service at all project reservoirs since the reservoirs would be within national forest boundaries. The present plan for the project has evolved from studies of numerous alternatives as the most desirable development to meet water needs of the project area anticipated for the near future. If