BOARD01817

• Board Meeting Date: 11/19/2003
• Description: CF Section - New Loans - Colorado River Water Conservation District - Elkhead Reservoir Enlargement
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board
Deoartment of N amra! Resources
1313 Shennan Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX, [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.us

Bill Owens
Governor

MEMORANDUM

Greg E. Walcher
Executive Director

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

FROM:

Mike Serlet, P.E., Chief
Water Supply Planning and Finance Section.

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

DATE: November 12, 2003

SUBJECT: Agenda Item #Sa, November 19-21, 2003 Board Meeting
Water Supply Planning and Finance - Construction Fund and
Severance Tax Trust Fund Perpetual Base Account New Loans -
Colorado River Water Conservation District - Elkhead Reservoir
Enlargement

Introduction
The Colorado River Water Conservation District (River District) is applying for a loan in the amount
of $11 ,000,000 to enlarge Elkhead Reservoir located on Elkhead Creek northeast of Craig in Routt
and Moffat Counties. The River District, in conjunction with the Upper Colorado Endangered
Fishes Recovery Program (Recovery Program), propose to enlarge the reservoir for the purposes
of supporting the recovery of endangered fish species and to satisfy needs for supplies of
municipal, industrial and agricultural water in the Lower Yampa River basin. The estimated total
cost of the project is $19.5 million. Please see the attached project summary and map.

Backqround
Elkhead Reservoir was constructed in the 1970s as a cooperative project between the Colorado
Division of Wildlife (DOW) and the Yampa participants, comprised of a consortium of power
companies that own generating capacity at the Craig coal-fired power plant. In 2002, the City of
Craig obtained DOW's interest in the reservoir. In February 2002, the River District entered into
an Intergovernmental Agreement with Craig to enlarge Elkhead Reservoir.

The Recovery Program began work on a Management Plan for the endangered fish species in the
Yampa River basin (Yampa Plan) in 1993. The plan is currently in final draft form with final action
by the Management Committee of the Recovery Program expected by the end of the year. Among
other recovery actions, the Yampa Plan identifies a need for up to 7,000 acre-feet (af) of water to
augment low flows in the Yampa River, primarily below the town of Maybell, during late July through
early October. The Yampa Plan considered several alternatives for providing the additional water
including the enlargement of Elkhead and Stagecoach Reservoirs, use of Steamboat Lake storage
water, and interruptible supply contracts for agricultural water. The Yampa Plan recommends 5,000