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Annual Operating Plans, Colorado Big Thompson Project, 2019

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Annual Operating Plans, Colorado Big Thompson Project, 2019 Annual Operating Plans Sixty-eighth Annual Report Colorado – Big Thompson Project And Western Division Systems Power Operations Water Year 2019 Summary of Actual Operations Water Year 2020 Annual Operating Plans February 2019: Charles Hansen Feeder Canal 550 Section and Eden Valley Siphon Eastern Colorado Area Office Missouri Basin Region U.S. Department of the Interior 28 February 2020 Mission Statements The Department of the Interior (DOI) conserves and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people, provides scientific and other information about natural resources and natural hazards to address societal challenges and create opportunities for the American people, and honors the Nation’s trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities to help them prosper. The mission of the Bureau of Reclamation is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public. Preface The purpose of the Annual Report for the Colorado-Big Thompson Project (C-BT) is to inform interested parties of the coordinated operation of the project. The report has two main parts. The first describes the actual operation of the project during the previous water year and the plan of operation for the upcoming water year. The second presents the hydropower operations for the previously completed water year and the forecast for the next. This report in part fulfills requirements included within decree stipulations. These include the Stipulation dated October 5, 1955, as amended October 12, 1955, and filed with the United States District Court for the District of Colorado in Civil Action Nos. 2782, 5016, and 5017 for an annual report of the Green Mountain Reservoir Operations and the Agreements in the Stipulation and Agreement of the Orchard Mesa Check Case (Colo. Water Div. 5, 91CW247) dated September 6, 1996, to produce a Historic Users Pool (HUP) Annual Operating Plan (AOP). Executive Summary Collection System and East Slope Reservoirs started Water Year 2019 (WY 2019) with average storages and ended WY 2019 with greater than average storage. Snowpack was generally greater than average for the water year and runoff mirrored snowpack. Peak runoff, although not exceptionally large in magnitude, was later than typical. Daily air temperatures were generally average throughout the water year, except for the July – September period, when temperatures were higher than average. Precipitation was marginally above average for the water year, except for May and June 2019 which were slightly higher than average. Colorado – Big Thompson (C-BT) Project diversions totaled 288,724 acre-feet (AF) through Adams Tunnel for water year 2019. Deliveries of C-BT water totaled 191,792 acre-feet. Green Mountain Reservoir delivered a total of 60,844 acre-feet from storage in WY 2019. The natural inflow to Lake Estes reached its WY 2019 peak flow with a daily average flow of 955 cubic feet per second (cfs) on July 1. The maximum mean daily release from Olympus Dam was 709 cfs, occurring on June 8. Green Mountain Reservoir achieved a physical fill in WY 2019. Granby Reservoir achieved a fill in WY 2019. Horsetooth Reservoir and Carter Lake achieved a fill in WY 2019. Carter Lake was filled a total of three times in WY 2019. Sufficient storage in Horsetooth Reservoir and Carter Lake existed to satisfy all demands for WY 2019. Grand Lake clarity goals were met for the 2019 clarity season. At Shadow Mountain Reservoir during the final week of the clarity season, diel pH values oscillated above and below the adaptive management threshold of 8.0 but no operational action was taken, because the clarity goal qualifiers were being met and there was no concurrent indications of any increase in algal production. i Contents Preface ................................................................................................................................. i Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ i Contents .............................................................................................................................. ii General Description of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project ....................................... 1 Collection System and East Slope Colorado-Big Thompson Project ................................... 1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Planning and Control ............................................................................................................................................................... 6 Irrigation Requirements .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 East Slope Diversion Operations ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Flow Requirements Below Project Facilities .................................................................................................................... 8 Annual Operating Plan ......................................................................................................................................................... 10 Green Mountain Reservoir ..................................................................................................... 10 Reservoir Administration ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 Green Mountain Historic Users Pool (HUP) and the Orchard Mesa Check Case Settlement .................. 11 Reservoir Operation .............................................................................................................................................................. 12 Operational Summary: Water Year 2019 ...................................................................... 14 Summary of System-wide Conditions ................................................................................... 14 Weather and Inflow Hydrology ........................................................................................................................................ 14 System Demands and Deliveries ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Maintenance and System Outages ................................................................................................................................. 18 Operations and Outcomes ................................................................................................................................................. 18 C-BT Operations by Facility .................................................................................................... 19 Collection System ................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Willow Creek Reservoir ................................................................................................................................................... 19 Granby Reservoir and Shadow Mountain Reservoir/Grand Lake: ................................................................. 22 East Slope .................................................................................................................................................................................. 25 Adams Tunnel, Marys Lake and Lake Estes ............................................................................................................ 25 Lower Power Arm, Carter Lake and Horsetooth Reservoir ............................................................................... 29 Green Mountain Reservoir .................................................................................................................................................. 34 2020 Annual Operation Plan .......................................................................................... 39 Collection System and East Slope Colorado-Big Thompson Project ................................. 39 Green Mountain Reservoir ..................................................................................................... 40 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................... 41 APPENDIX A: DAILY RECORDS ............................................................................................... 41 APPENDIX B—TABLES ............................................................................................................ 79 B-1: WESTERN DIVISION–PICK-SLOAN MISSOURI BASIN PROGRAM PERTINENT RESERVOIR DATA ........................................................................................................................................................................... 79 ii B-2: C-BT MONTHLY SUMMARY OF BLUE RIVER OPERATIONS ......................................................................... 80 B-3: PICK-SLOAN MISSOURI BASIN PROGRAM 2019 SUMMARY ACTUAL OPERATIONS
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