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<br />18715
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<br />FRYINGPAN-ARKANSAS PROJECT, COLORADO
<br />
<br />cntire castern slope of Colorado and Grand and Summit Counties on
<br />t,he western slope, eompri.es rnughly twn-thirds of the State "nd
<br />contains a large mnjority of t,he t;tate's population o.ud industries.
<br />The arelt is served with elcctricit,v bv 15 private utilities, 2.'i municipal
<br />organizations} II REA cooperatrves, and the Bureau of Reclamation.
<br />Although not consiclererl a pe_rmanent part of the power market area,
<br />loads in the vicinit.y of Gunnison find Sng-uache lllay he served origi-
<br />nally by the initial development because of thcir proximit,y t,o the
<br />projcct power system. The Colorado-Big Thompsou project has,
<br />among othcr fCllt,ures, the 21,GOO-kilowatt Green Mountllin hydro-
<br />d~ct.ric plant, now in operation on the western slope, and, when com-
<br />pleted, will also ]lH\'C hydroelectric plllnt" on the eastern slope north
<br />of DpIlvr.r.
<br />2:], In December 1948~-the latest year of complete record-in-
<br />slullcd gener:.lt,ing' ('npoeity in the combined power market area totaled
<br />:>47,105 kilowatts, Of that t,otlll, :1:39,000 kilowat,ts were dependllble
<br />capacity. Only ahollt 20 perc(>,nt of the, instlllle<l cllpacity was hydr-
<br />power. Steam cllpueity <:OJl1priscd 7:1 percent.. A numher of indllstrjaJ
<br />plants in the orca bll\Te t.heir own g(,lleratilJ~ systpms which. comhincd,
<br />have an insto,lIeu cil.pncit.y of nhout. 8.5,000 kilowatts.
<br />24. The noncoincident peak de.mnud for pOWN. in t.hf' market. llrea
<br />ill 1948 reached :300,000 kilowntts-about 12 percent, more thnn the
<br />net, fissured capacity of 267,GGO ki\owutts. Forerast.s indicnte that
<br />thc depcndable cnpacity requirements will bc about 632,000 kilowatts
<br />hy 1060 and 966,000 kilowat.ts by 1970. On the basis of 1948 iusf,aHll-
<br />tions, plus all known addit.ions scheduled or projected, less normul or
<br />nceessary retirements, t.he market nrea will still huve a deficienc.y in
<br />power supply.
<br />25. As of 1950, eastern Colorado does not have a high-voltage trans.
<br />lIlis~ion system interconne:et,rng aU important load centers. Ties of
<br />ut.ilities t.o enable interchange of power fire essential for maximum
<br />effieienev of servicB and ut,ilizat.ion.
<br />26. llfunir:l.l'ul 'waler.-Most of the Arkansas Valley t,owns below
<br />Puehlo obtain municipal water from pumped wclls. Other vlllley
<br />communities use water from streams and springs. In general, the
<br />quaHt,y is poor heeD-use of excessive hardness.
<br />27, Colorado Springs obtains excellent water froUl the slopes of
<br />Pikes Peak. The city expcrienced water shortages prior to 1937.
<br />Since then, its water storage capacit,}' has been doubled and all service
<br />connections have heen metered. The city has indicated an urgent
<br />need of 4,000 acre-fcct of supplcmeutal municipal water immediately
<br />and II probable nccd for au addit,ionnl 16,000 acre-feet bv the veal'
<br />2000. In 1949, Colorado Springs started drilling the Hoosier pass
<br />t.runsmountain diversion tunnel which would import western slope
<br />wate,r from the Blue Ri,er. The city has expressed intercst in
<br />obtammg supplelilental muulClpal water from the initial development
<br />by exchange methods.
<br />28. Pueblo obtRins its municipal water from the Arkansas River.
<br />During periods of low flows the water is of poor quality. The water is
<br />relatl\'ely hllrd and unpala,t,able. In 1938, Puehlo acqlllred t!te
<br />,Wurtz ditch wl,irh imports annuallv about 2.,000 acre-feet of wat,,!,
<br />from the western slope. Much of tile yicld from that transmountain
<br />project is lost to municipal use for lack of storage space. 'I'h~ ?lty
<br />has indicated an immediat,e need for 5,000 acre-feet of mUlllclp~1
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