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Water Administration in the Cache La Poudre River Basin

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Water Administration in the Cache La Poudre River Basin Technical Memorandum To: Chandler Peter, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers From: Seth Turner, CDM Kelly DiNatale, DiNatale Water Consultants Matt Bliss, Hydros Consulting Jordan Dimick, CDM Date: August 1, 2011 Subject: Water Administration in the Cache la Poudre River Basin The purpose of this memorandum is to provide the reader with an overview summary of water administration in the Cache la Poudre (Poudre) River Basin in northern Colorado. This document was prepared at the request of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in conjunction with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews and preparation of the Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) for the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) and the proposed expansions of the existing Halligan Reservoir and the existing Milton Seaman Reservoir. The Applicant for NISP is the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD or District), acting on behalf of 15 participating municipal and rural domestic water providers that are located within the District's boundaries in Boulder, Larimer, Morgan, and Weld Counties in northern Colorado. The Applicant's Proposed Action is the construction of the 170,000 acre-foot (AF) Glade Reservoir, located in the Hook and Moore Glade area northwest of Fort Collins near Ted's Place, off of the main channel of the Poudre River, and the 45,624 AF Galeton Reservoir, located on the plains northeast of Greeley and east of Ault. Additional infrastructure and exchange operations would be necessary to facilitate delivery of water to the project's participants. The City of Fort Collins and the North Poudre Irrigation Company (NPIC) are jointly pursuing the expansion of Halligan Reservoir, located on the North Fork of the Poudre River (North Fork), above Livermore. The City of Greeley is seeking to enlarge its Milton Seaman Reservoir, also located on the North Fork, about a mile upstream of its confluence with the Poudre River mainstem. These two reservoir enlargement projects are primarily for developing an increased water supply for Fort Collins and Greeley, respectively. Collectively, these two projects are known as the Halligan-Seaman Water Supply Projects (HSWSPs). Dist 3 Admin Tech Memo District 3 Admin Technical Memorandum August 1, 2011 Page i Contents Section 1 – Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Poudre Basin Setting .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Source Material and Overview ........................................................................................................... 1 Section 2 – Colorado Water Law ................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 The Doctrine of Prior Appropriation ............................................................................................... 4 2.2 Water Rights Associated with NISP and HSWSPs ...................................................................... 6 2.3 Duties of the Water Commissioner .................................................................................................. 8 2.3.1 Record Keeping ............................................................................................................................ 8 2.3.2 Regulate Headgates .................................................................................................................... 9 2.3.3 Distribute Storage Water .......................................................................................................... 9 2.3.4 Distribute Transmountain Water ......................................................................................... 9 2.3.5 Delivery of Augmentation and Exchange Water ............................................................. 9 2.3.6 Inspections ..................................................................................................................................... 9 2.3.7 Restriction Enforcement ........................................................................................................... 9 2.4 Interstate Compacts and Decrees ................................................................................................... 10 2.5 Recommended Further Reading ..................................................................................................... 10 Section 3 – Historical Streamflows ........................................................................................................... 11 Section 4 – Transbasin Diversions ........................................................................................................... 24 4.1 Transbasin Diversions into the Poudre Basin Headwaters ................................................. 24 4.1.1 Grand River Ditch ...................................................................................................................... 27 4.1.2 Laramie-Poudre Tunnel .......................................................................................................... 27 4.1.3 Skyline Ditch ................................................................................................................................ 27 4.1.4 Bob Creek Ditch .......................................................................................................................... 27 4.1.5 Deadman Ditch and Wilson Supply Ditch ........................................................................ 27 4.1.6 Cameron Pass Ditch .................................................................................................................. 28 4.1.7 Michigan Ditch ............................................................................................................................ 28 4.2 Colorado-Big Thompson Project ..................................................................................................... 28 Section 5 –Mountain Water Supply Systems ......................................................................................... 32 5.1 High Mountain Reservoirs ................................................................................................................. 32 5.2 Halligan Reservoir and Milton Seaman Reservoir ................................................................... 34 5.3 Joint Operations Plan ........................................................................................................................... 35 Section 6 – Major M&I Water Providers in the Poudre Basin ......................................................... 37 6.1 Fort Collins and Greeley Pipelines ................................................................................................. 37 6.2 Tri-Districts .............................................................................................................................................. 39 6.3 Pleasant Valley Pipeline ...................................................................................................................... 39 Section 7 – Major Irrigation Water Users in the Poudre Basin ...................................................... 40 7.1 Average Annual Diversions for Agriculture................................................................................ 40 Dist 3 Admin Tech Memo District 3 Admin Technical Memorandum August 1, 2011 Page ii 7.2 The "Big Four" Canals .......................................................................................................................... 42 7.2.1 North Poudre Canal .................................................................................................................. 44 7.2.2 Larimer County Canal .............................................................................................................. 45 7.2.3 Larimer Weld Irrigation Canal ............................................................................................. 46 7.2.4 New Cache la Poudre Ditch .................................................................................................... 46 7.3 South Side Ditches ................................................................................................................................. 47 Section 8 – Water Exchanges in the Poudre Basin .............................................................................. 50 8.1 Overview of Water Exchanges in the Poudre Basin ................................................................ 50 8.2 Major Exchanges Represented in EIS Modeling ....................................................................... 52 Section 9 – Other Key Administrative Issues ........................................................................................ 54 9.1 River Dry-up Points .............................................................................................................................. 54 9.2 Fossil Creek Reservoir Inlet Operations ...................................................................................... 57 9.3 Fish Hatchery and Recreational Minimum Flows .................................................................... 58 Section 10 – References ................................................................................................................................ 62 Tables Table 1. Conditional Storage and Exchange Water Rights Proposed to be Used by NISP and the HSWSPs ........................................................................................................................
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