WSP07162

• File Number: 8441
• Description: Colorado Big Thompson Project
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 11/1/1934
• Title: Water Resources - Colorado's Greatest Wealth - Grand Lake Water Tunnel Plan Would Aid Vast Area Thru Its Preventing Frequent Shortages
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

Developments Increase Grand

Lake Diversion Feasibility

During tJ;1e past 20 years not onlY
has the need of additional water sup-
plies for the South Platte valley be-
come increasingly apparent but there
have been developments enormously
increasing -the feasib1lity of the pro.
posed Grand Lake diversion.
In the first place the. time and mon~
ey needed tor water tunnel construc-
tion has been grea.tly r,edu~_,~_Jn:_.
- ventwlJ"-and "experfentfeC Huge projects
in California and in the' North Pacific
states have not only shown the teas.
ibility of huge mountain diversion pro-
jects but the lessons learned have
cut the cost in time and money tor
works of this nature.

Colo. River Compact Protects

Grand Lake Diversion Plan

Negotiation of the Colorado river
compact adopted by six of the seven
states in the Colorado river basin 8_nd
by the United' States reserved to
Colorado and the other northern basin
states 7,500,000 acre feet of the Colo.
rado river water.
The compa.ct protects. the Gra.nd
Lake. diversion plan and similar pro-
jects from the likelihood of being
blocked by interstate water suits.
Delph .E. Carpenter of Greeley, the
author of the Colorado river compact.
had the Grand Lake tunnel plan def.
initely in mind while negotiating the
compact as interstate river commis.
sioner for Colorado.

,Reco'\'ery Prog'raInMeans

Ample Funds Available

The '.natibnal recovery program with
its initial appropriation of $8,300,000,.
000 for public works and the certainty
that other billions will be appropriated
by the incoming congress, solves the
problem of the financing of the Grand
Lake project. providing that the pro-
ject can be so forcefully presented be--
fore the Public Works administration
and the department of interior that
the government will adopt the project.
From the government standpoint
the Grand Lake project has the out.
standing merit that it does not create
additional lITigated land but rather
safeguards from threatened disaster
an already well developed irrigated

area.

First Steps on Project

Taken on Aug. 14, 1933

First step in the present campaign
for the construction of the Grand Lake
water diversion project was taken in

Greeley, Aug. 14, 1933. At the req'Q.est
of George M. Bull, state engineer. for
the Public Works administration, a
conference was held at the connty
commissioners offiCe in Greeley to
map out a project or projects that
would benefit Northern Colorado and
which could be presented to the Pub--
lie Works administration for its ap.-
proval.
The Grand Lake 'Project was sug.
gested a.t the meeting., 1'~qu,t, ,Aug":!
uat,.there. 'Were a'ddftIoiiil meetings and
conferences on the subject in. North.
ern Colorado. An informal application
for consideration of the Grand Lake
project was sent to Denver and to
Washington.
Weld and Larimer Counties
Financed Preliminary Survey
Agreement was also reached by
Weld and Larimer counties to stand
. the expense of a preliminary survey
of the -project. L. L. Stimson .of Gree-
ley and B1ll'gls COy of Fort Collins
were employed as the engineers to
make the survey. This prellD?-inary en-
gineering work was accomplished be-
fore winter set in in 1933.
From. the first the Colorado state
engineer's office enthusiastically 'co-
operated wlth the advocates of the
Grand Lake diversion plan. In Decem.
ber, 1933, a comprehensive prelimin.
ary engineering report of the plan, un~
reseryedly cominepding ft, was com~
pleted by. R. J. Tipton, engineer in
charge of such investigations, for the
state engineers office.
During the winter of 1938-1934e!-,
fort was made to obtain from the leg-
islature the cr~tion of a "Northern
Colorado Public' Power and: Wa.ter
District" to further the campaign to
prepare the project for approval by
the federal government.
Owing to the immense amount of
work before the legislature and the
confusion that prevailed, this legisla-
tion was not passed. At the present
time a priva.te non~profit wa.ter users
association is being incorporated for
the purpose of furthering tbe project.
Active Cooperation of
High Officials Obtained
In the past 14. months the active
cooperation of Congressman Fred
Cummings, United States Senators
Edward P. Costigan and Alva A.
Adams; of Oscar L. Chapman, assist-
ant. secretary of, interior and from the
legislative delegations of the counties
in the district has been obtained.
Among the private organizations
which have aided are: Union Pacific

a.nd Burlington railroads, Great W eBt~
ern Sugar company, chambers of coni.
merce of the cities and towns thruout
the area.
M. C. Hlnderlider. state engineer,
and President Charles 'A- Lory of
Colorado Agricultural college have
actively supported the project and ,giv,
en valuable aid.
Moses Smith Went To
W-ashington-ror'~ProjeCt ,.
Moses E. Smith, state representa.
tive trom Weld county, made a trip
to Washington in the interests of the
project and was given a. friendly hea.r-
ing by Elwood Mea<!, chief of the U_
S. reclamation bureau, Secretary of
the Interior Ickes, Relief Administra.
tor Harry Hopkins and other high
offici~ls ot the federal government.
. Congressman EdWard Taylor, rep.
resenting western Colorado, and stand-
ing high in the councIls of the Roose~
velt administration, has aided in
, nf!gotiations between the water users
of the South Platte baSin (Northern
Colorado) and water users of the
Western Slope of COlorad@.. These
negotiations are intended to assure
the Western Slope people that. their.
water rights will not be impaired by
the, Grand Lake project. Coliferences
b.etween the two groups are still going'
on ,at. intervals. Fith every prospect
of satisfactory outcome.
Six Principal Features
of Grand Lake Project
Coming now to the phYSical fea.tures
and. the, estimated cost of the Grand
Lake project.
The project in its present form, sulJ.._
ject to, later alterations, consists of:
1. Hine No. 2 reaervo(r with .
capacity of 230,000 acre feet slt.
uated on the Colorado river a
short distance above Granby,
Colo. .
2. A tunnel extending from a
point near the bottom of this
reservoir for a distance of 2OV2
miles thru the Continental divide
to the Big Thompson river.
3. Two power plants on the Big
Thompson river to utilize wa.ter
diverted by the project.
4. A distribution eanal from the
north side of the Big Thompson to
earry a portion of the water to
the Poudre river.
5. Another canal from tho Big
Thompson to carry water to the
Little Thompson, the St. Vraln
and to a portion of Boulder Creek
valley.
6. Construction of Hlne No. 1

!,Zl.IOO

reservoIr on 'the WJJliams Fork
of the Colorado river wfth capac.-
Ity of 75,000 acre feet to protect
western slope users of Colorad'O
river water from any 1088 result--
In9 from the transmountaln dl.
version.
Total Cost of Project
Estimated "a.t _~O.MillioDs. ,.
.' . '~(ftar 'costs ot the entire Grand
Lake project including the proposed
accompanying hydro electric power
development have been itemized by
Engineer Tipton;
Main Tunnel __________$9,889,699
Hlne No.2 Rs. _~_______ 1,910,203
Canal to Poudre ________ 1,134,107
Canal to 'St. Vrafn _____ 250,000
Hlne No.1 Rs. ______ 734,151
Total -___,___,_____$12,918,160
Interest during
Constructlo." ~-________h__1,068,400
Total _--.___._______....__$14,986,560.
Power plant _____________4,799,301

Total ___,__,_..,..,$19,765,861
Mr. Ti};)ton puts the outside maxi.
mum figure. including all interest
charges. during construction, at $20,-
000,000.
lf, as is very likely. the Grand Lake
water diversion system 1s construct:
ed as a United States reclamation pro-
ject, there will be no interest charges
and the item of (interest during con-
struction) can be eliminated and the
total cost would ,b,~ reduced, accord-
ing!.o Mr. Tipton to $18,700,000.
Capacity of Grand Lake
Tunuel Set at SOO Sec. Ft.
The capacity of the Grand Lake di.
'version tunnel has been tentatively
set by engineers as 800 second feet.
Running at capaCity 2uch a tunnel
in 12 m.onths. would convey 584,000
acre feet or more than twice the pro-
posed diversion from the Colorado.
river to the South Platte basin.
It is proposed to divert water from
October thru April thru the tunnel
in sufficient amounts to provide a con.
tinuous flow of 300 second feet for
power purposes., This water would be
recaptured and stored in reservoirs on
the eastern slope which have a suffi.
cient reserve capacity to care for this
flow.
A large part of this water could
be stored in Boyd lake on the. Thomp-
son which ha.s. a large reserve gel-
, dom-used capacity. The remainder of
the winter .flow would be allowed to
go into