colorado big thompson and windy gap projects

The Farr Pumping Plant cost over $9 million and provides an additional 700,000 of irrigated land to northeastern Colorado. The tunnel outlet is located at East Portal Reservoir, a small regulating pool on the Wind River. Water to fill the reservoir will come through the Bald Mountain Tunnel from Pinewood Reservoir that also feeds Flatiron Reservoir and the powerplant that exists there. Its one of the premier heavy civil projects going on the country right now.. Northern Water Unable to fund the mega-project themselves, they turned to the federal government. Flow Data | Northern Water TheWindy Gap Projectwas first proposed in 1967 by the cities of Boulder, Estes Park, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland. Water then flows from Grand Lake into the West Portal of the 13.1-mile Alva B. Adams Tunnel. The District's domestic water service area now extends south from Greeley to the Tri-town area of Dacono, Firestone, and Frederick in southwest Weld County, and east from Interstate 25 to Kersey and the Hardin area. Broomfield has two major water supply sources: treated water purchased from Denver Water, and raw water from the Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) and Windy Gap Projects. Daniel Tyler The Last Water Hole In the West, University of Colorado Press, 1992. The Alva B. Adams Tunnel was the linchpin of the controversial Colorado-Big Thompson Project, a massive feat of engineering that redirected millions of gallons of Colorado River water from the Western Slope to farms and subdivisions along the Front Range. Northern Water and Larimer County paid $4 million to secure title to the property. Swiss company Walo International Ltd. was hired to build the asphalt core. But in drought-stricken summers their irrigation ditches ran dry. Through the management of the Colorado-Big Thompson and Windy Gap projects, gauges throughout our service area monitor the flow of water coming in and out of the projects. Its one of the premier heavy civil projects going on the country right now, he said. Thus, the Windy Gap Firming Project was envisioned. Incubator continues innovative work once championed by Hewlett-Packard, Proposal to rezone former Greeley Hewlett-Packard land to high-density residential fails. 600 Cubic Feet Per Second Maximum Discharge from Four Windy Gap Pumps, Cubic Feet Per Second Maximum Discharge from Four Windy Gap Pumps, 0 While the center of the dam is level, as the foundation or plinth for the dam climbs up the valley sides, it presents the challenge of creating a flat surface when pouring concrete on a slope. The main dam at Chimney Hollow Reservoir hits 100 feet. Town of Firestone Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. The dam will be the third-tallest in Colorado, with Navajo Dam in southwest Colorado and Blue Mesa Dam near Gunnison taller. During periods of high flows in the Colorado and Fraser rivers, water is pumped from Windy Gap Reservoir via the Windy Gap Pump Plant into Lake Granby, where it is stored for delivery through the C-BT Project facilities to water users on the Front Range. Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, "Windy Gap Firming Project," 2016. The Windy Gap Project was designed to deliver an average of 48,000 acre-feet of water per year to its participants. Windy Gap Firming Project; Colorado-Big Thompson Project, Grand and Prior to the Dust Bowl era, agriculture in this section of the state had relied upon sources such as Boulder Creek, St. Vrain Creek, Little Thompson River, Big Thompson River and the Cache La Poudre River, all of which are a part of the South Platte River basin and flow into the South Platte River before the South Platte reaches Greeley, Colorado. (Northern Water) The Windy Gap Firming Project, of which Chimney Hollow Reservoir is a main component . The project consists of a diversion dam on the Colorado River, a 445-acre-foot reservoir, a pump plant and a six-mile pipeline to Lake Granby. The Alva B. Adams Tunnel was the linchpin of the controversial Colorado-Big Thompson Project, a massive feat of engineering that redirected millions of gallons of Colorado River water from the Western Slope to farms and subdivisions along the Front Range. Completed in 1985, the project began delivering water to Municipal Subdistrict participants in July. Windy Gap Firming Project, Final Environmental Impact Statement, US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. Built between 1981 and 1985 and located on the West Slope near Granby, Windy Gap consists of a diversion dam on the Colorado River, a pump plant and a 6-mile pipeline to Lake Granby, the largest storage reservoir in the Colorado-Big Thompson Project system. 1981. Windy Gap water will be diverted from the tunnel before it reaches Flatiron through a new Chimney Hollow Inlet pipe. The budget was fixed in 2020, according to Joe Donnelly, project manager and water resources engineer with Northern Water. 0 Brennan Middleton, water resources manager for Broomfield, said his community gets water from two sources: Denver Water and Northern Water. All parties involved agree that the states economy and environment will be significantly impacted in coming years by the management of water diversions sent through the Adams Tunnel. 90 Cubic Feet Per Second Required Streamflow Below Windy Gap, Cubic Feet Per Second Required Streamflow Below Windy Gap, 0 By 2025, water will begin to fill the project. While the project was originally built for agricultural purposes, it serves multiple demands including municipal and industrial supply, hydro-power generation, recreation, and fish and wildlife. Electricity produced on the C-BT is a source of "peaking power" and is marketed by the Department of Energy via its Western Area Power Administration. Daniel Tyler, The Last Water Hole in the West: The ColoradoBig Thompson Project and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1992). Colorado-Big Thompson Windy Gap Project - Google Books The city avoids using the single-use water for irrigation, thus preserving it for human consumption. Just upstream from the reservoir will be a parking area and were building a boat launch area. Opponents of the project cite studies by state biologists that have identified extensive damage to the upper Colorado River caused by the Windy Gap Reservoir and by water being diverted out of the river basin. The water then drops 515 feet (157m) to the 45-MW Estes Powerplant[3] at Lake Estes, which is formed by Olympus Dam on the Big Thompson River at Estes Park. State officials approve the fish and wildlife mitigation plan and voluntary enhancement plan. The tunnel is named for Alva B. Adams, a U.S. The Colorado-Big Thompson Project (abbreviated C-BT) is a federal water diversion project in Colorado designed to collect West Slope mountain water from the headwaters of the Colorado River and divert it to Colorado's Front Range and plains. Brad Wind - svlhwcd 90 Cubic Feet Per Second Required Streamflow Below Windy Gap, 0 This agreement, along with other provisions to protect the Western Slopes water rights and future water needs, was formalized in a federal document approved by Congress in 1937, and it cleared the way for the C-BT project to proceed. From here it is transported via an inverted siphon across the Aspen Creek valley and drops 205 feet (62m) to Marys Lake, where it drives the 8.1 megawatt (MW) Marys Lake Powerplant. Crews complete the main dam rock excavation after 15 months of work on this component. These include Willow Creek and Windy Gap Reservoirs in Grand County. The water then enters the Bald Mountain Tunnel, heading east to a final drop of 1,055 feet (322m) at 94.5 MW Flatiron Powerplant. The Windy Gap Firming Project, of which Chimney Hollow Reservoir is a main component, will improve the reliability of, or firm, water supplies from the original Windy Gap Project, which started delivering water in 1985. At the time it was built, the Adams Tunnel was the longest tunnel in the United States to provide water for irrigation. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation publishes the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The survey results are unfavorable. Nearly all of the projects water comes from snowmelt in the Upper Colorado River basin, located in Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand County. The six cities through sales and trade of water shares adjusted their inventories so that now 15 entities have shares in Windy Gap. 220 Water Ave. , Berthoud, CO 80513 800-369-7246 A U.S. judge ruled in favor of Northern Water's Windy Gap Firming Project this week, paving the way for the construction of a new reservoir located west of Carter Lake in southwest Larimer County. During the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression of the 1930s, local leaders in northeastern Colorado conceived of a trans-mountain diversion much more massive than Grand Ditch that would send liquid relief to their parched fields. The Colorado-Big Thompson Project is a federal water diversion project in Colorado designed to collect West Slope mountain water from the headwaters of the Colorado River and divert it to Colorado's Front Range and plains. The water is pumped on the Western Slope from Lake Granby to the Granby Pump Canal, then to Shadow Mountain Reservoir, then to Grand Lake. The connectivity channel will allow the river below the reservoir to act more like "a. Windy Gap Project 9% of Windy Gap Water Indoor 30% Indoor 45% Outdoor 55% Connect to Your Water Facts About Your Water Greeley's Water Sources 2016 Water Quality Results 2017 As part of our continuing effort to provide and maintain safe, History | Northern Water Water Districts & Supply | Firestone, CO - Official Website Once the water emerges from the Adams Tunnel just southwest of Estes Park, the system is almost entirely gravity powered, dropping some 2,800 feet (850m) as it descends to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains west of Loveland. Northern Water gets go-ahead from judge to build Chimney Hollow Windy Gap Reservoir is a small diversion facility located directly below the confluence of the Colorado and Fraser . The ColoradoBig Thompson Project (abbreviated C-BT) is a federal water diversion project in Colorado designed to collect West Slope mountain water from the headwaters of the Colorado River and divert it to Colorado's Front Range and plains. NEPA and Colorado's requirement for a plan focused on fish and wildlife are among several processes in place to identify mitigation measures that will address the project's impacts. Its a legacy project; were so happy to be a part of this project. In the late 1930s a solution was found: divert the water via a 13.2-mile (21.2km)-long tunnel under the Continental Divide and Rocky Mountain National Park. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation oversaw construction of more than 100 features and facilities that make up the C-BT Project Work began in 1938 and took nearly 20 years to complete. The main dam reaches original grade (elevation 5,545 feet), 50 feet up from the plinth. That treated water is delivered by Central Weld to the Firestone service area through various master meters owned by the Town. Boulder County-area farmers increasingly renting water Water from the Fraser River, as well as other inflows to the Colorado below Granby Dam, is diverted here and pumped eastwards to Lake Granby. While simple in concept, the design and operation of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project is quite complex. Proponents of Windy Gap finally managed to navigate the legal labyrinth and secure the necessary permits. In addition, we monitor the tributaries that feed into our collection system for accurate data on water supplies. Water Literate Leaders of Northern Colorado Leadership Program The map was created by Honey Lindburg and originally appeared on pages 124-5 of A Ditch in Time by Patricia Nelson Limerick and Jason L. Hanson, published by Fulcrum Publishing in 2012. 445 Acre-Foot Reservoir, 0 A graphic from Northern Water showing the layout of the Windy Gap Firming Project. It also holds water in a shallow reservoir, sometimes elevating stream temperatures downstream of the dam when water is released. . Shares of Chimney Hollows 90,000 acre feet, Little Thompson Water District 4,850 AF, Central Weld County Water District 346 AF, Original Municipal Subdistrict (Windy Gap) participants. Larimer County will build the bathrooms, Deuto said. The project will provide a firm (more reliable) yield of 30,000 acre-feet annually, which will meet a portion of the future demands of the participants. Opponents of the proposed Windy Gap Project used federal environmental laws passed in . Water Treatment Broomfield's treatment facility, built in 1997, is designed to Dignitaries from across the region gather to celebrate the start of construction at the Colorado River Connectivity Channel located in Grand County. Barnard Constructions part of that cost is about $510 million, he said. Grand County and the Municipal Subdistrict board approve agreements to create improvements to the Colorado River. 6 Miles of Pipeline from Windy Gap Reservoir to Lake Granby, 0 For relief they looked to the Western Slope, where approximately 70 percent of the states water flows. B.DRAFT Raw Water Supply Yield Analysis 7415LOV 8-10 - Loveland, Colorado Municipal Subdistrict offers West Slope benefits to facilitate project implementation. The reservoir is held by the 298-foot (91m) high Granby Dam and 12,722 feet (3,878m) of auxiliary dikes. An acre foot is 326,000 gallons enough to cover an acre of land one foot deep. The US Bureau of Reclamation, guided by President Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal policies to develop public works projects, was eager to build water infrastructure in the West. Snowmelt is stored in Lake Granby the states second largest water body as well as water collected in Willow Creek Reservoir. Water Conservation Plan - Superior, Colorado In the 1890s, construction began on Grand Ditch. 700 Miles of Transmission Lines. When a group of visionaries in the early 20th century proposed a transmountain diversion project to bring Colorado River water to the East Slope, some people scoffed. Passed in 1974, Colorado House Bill 1041 gives authority to local governments in cases where governmental units are in conflict over developments, especially those of "statewide concern," with one asserting authority over another. The proposed water diversion was extensive and the project could not have been constructed without compensation to the West Slope for the water sent east. In Colorado, approximately 80% of the state's precipitation falls on the West Slope, in the Rocky Mountains, while around 80% of the state's growing population lives along the eastern slope, between the cities of Fort Collins and Pueblo. Those six cities Boulder, Estes Park, Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins and Greeley formed the Northern Water Municipal Subdistrict. The new reservoir will be located just west of Carter Lake in southern Larimer County and will store 90,000 acre-feet of water when built slightly smaller than neighboring Carter Lake (112,230 acre-feet). This review started in 2003. The tunnel work, a specialty of contractor Barnard Construction Co. Inc., (See related story.) 0 Reviews. We also monitor flow on other streams and rivers not tied to . Excavation occurred in preparation for the dam, meaning the base of the dam is about 100 feet below where the former surface of the valley existed, Deuto said. Investigating and planning the C-BT Project involved a great deal of ingenuity and time exploring the mountain peaks and valleys of Colorados Northern Front Range. LTWD has: 611 miles of pipes from 1" to 42" diameter spread over 200 square miles, ten water tanks with a total capacity of 18.75 million gallons, seven pump stations with a total capacity of 2,180 gallons per minute. Grand County issues 1041 permit. is progressing at about 40 feet per month through the sandstone geology of the area. PDF C-BT fact - Colorado State University Chimney Hollow first tunnel cutting, April 4, 2022. 35 Miles of Tunnels, 0 While all dam projects come with environmental and sometimes sociological concerns, its hard not to marvel at the engineering feat that is gradually taking shape on Chimney Hollow Road in Larimer County. The Colorado-Big Thompson Project Watch on How the Project Works Investigating and planning the C-BT Project involved a great deal of ingenuity and time exploring the mountain peaks and valleys of Colorado's Northern Front Range. The dam is 3,700 feet in length from one side of the Chimney Hollow valley to the other. Chimney Hollow, named according to Northern Water project manager Jeremy Deuto for a chimney of a long-abandoned settlement, is being built on property once owned by Hewlett-Packard Co. and intended for an employee retreat. The water flows through a 13 mile tunnel beneath Rocky Mountain National Park. In order to supply the residential and farming needs of Northeastern Colorado, the project was begun in 1938 and . Windy Gap Project participants Units Acre-feet (max) Percentage City of Louisville 9 900 1.9% Town of Berthoud 8 800 1.7% Town of Frederick 7 700 1.5% Town of Firestone 5 500 1.0% . Unlike the water coming from the Colorado Big Thompson project, which can be used once and then must be permitted to flow downstream to users in eastern Colorado, Windy Gap water can be used and used again if a community determines how to treat and put it back into play. The lawsuit was filed in 2017 by a coalition of environmental groups pushing to stop construction of the 90,000-acre Chimney Hollow Reservoir. Canals and pipelines distribute water from these reservoirs to more than 640,000 acres of farmland and ranchland, to industries, and to approximately 860,000 people in portions of eight counties (Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer, Logan, Morgan, Sedgwick, Washington, and Weld) and cities such as Fort Collins, Boulder, Longmont, and Greeley. Map of Colorado-Big Thompson Project, East Wing, Windy Gap Firming Project, Final Environmental Impact Statement, Colorado River Water Conservation District, Glenwood Springs Hydroelectric Plant (Glenwood Center for the Arts). Lake Granby, located in eastern Grand County, is the primary C-BT storage facility, with a capacity of 539,800 acre-feet (0.6658km3). ColoradoBig Thompson Project, US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. During the late nineteenth century, as agriculture expanded in Colorado, the northeastern plains provided farmers with fertile soil and abundant sunshine. Trails will connect with the trail systems at Carter Lake. On the plains below, the water is stored in three Eastern Slope reservoirs in the South Platte River basin Horsetooth Reservoir, Carter Lake, and Boulder Reservoir. The Windy Gap project moves water from the Western Slope as part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project and has been in operation since 1985. 4 12,000 Horsepower Motors (48,000 Total Horsepower), 12,000 Horsepower Motors (48,000 Total Horsepower), 0 Additional storage has been contemplated since the Windy Gap Projects inception and today, nine municipalities, two water districts and a power provider work together to build a new reservoir to store this water and make the Windy Gap water deliveries more reliable. From Lake Granby, water is lifted by Farr Pump Plant into the Granby Pump Canal feeding Shadow Mountain Reservoir and Grand Lake. From Lake Granby the water is lifted 125 feet (38m) up to Shadow Mountain Lake, which is located on the Colorado River west of the natural Grand Lake. Environmental groups to appeal ruling over Chimney Hollow Reservoir Willow Creek Reservoir is built on Willow Creek, which is located west of Lake Granby, and provides a source from which water is diverted and pumped to Granby. Map of Colorado-Big Thompson Project, East Wing. A $49 million contingency was included in the $690 million budget, and the contingency has been available to cover unanticipated costs caused by litigation or other delays, including delays caused by environmental challenges. The two bodies of water are connected by a short channel which allows water to flow freely to the intake of the Alva B. Adams Tunnel on Grand Lake's eastern shore. The economy struggled following the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression. Much of the water to support this urban development was converted from agricultural water delivered by the C-BT. They argue that protecting the health of the states namesake river, which serves as the lifeblood of the Western Slopes economy, is paramount. Nonetheless, when the C-BT was finally completed in 1957, water diverted through the Adams Tunnel increased agricultural productivity in northeastern Colorado. In wet years, the Western Slope reservoirs spill because they cant hold all the water available. The water is then distributed to Windy Gap Project participants via a series of C-BT Project reservoirs, canals and pipelines. At the same time, a devastating drought gripped the region. Construction began in 1938. Construction began on Green Mountain in the northern part of Summit County in 1938. It was largely undeveloped land, although a ranch house and barn were on the property and demolished prior to construction. Were building in conjunction with Larimer County an extension of County Road 18E. Twelve of those cities, water districts and a utility chose to participate in building Chimney Hollow on the Eastern Slope to firm the supply of Windy Gap water. At Grand Lake water enters the Adams Tunnel and flows beneath Rocky Mountain National Park. Subsequently, a long period of drought and the sagging economy of the Great Depression whetted demands for what became the largest trans-mountain diversion project ever built. But before the bureau could showcase its engineering prowess by building this project and the fields of northeastern Colorado could receive a steady flow of irrigation water through the Adams Tunnel, water wrangling between political factions on opposite sides of the Continental Divide had to be settled. Windy Gap water is pumped and stored in Lake Granby, part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, before it is delivered to water users via the C-BT system. Northern Water: water collection and distribution systems 3. Drought Resources - Residential and Commercial. Also in 1937, the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District was established as a public agency in the state of Colorado to contract with the federal government to build the C-BT and distribute water from the project to counties on the Eastern Slope. When complete, the dam will hold back 90,000 acre feet of water and make 30,000 acre feet available each year to the subdistrict membership. (Tunnel West Portal .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}401428.16N 1054807.36W / 40.2411556N 105.8020444W / 40.2411556; -105.8020444, Tunnel East Portal 401939.85N 1053446.34W / 40.3277361N 105.5795389W / 40.3277361; -105.5795389). Were anticipating about 40,000 new residents before buildout [of the community], and were situated well. They insist that to fill this gap, more water must be diverted from the Colorado River to the Eastern Slope. Northeastern Colorado only receives 14.5 inches of average annual precipitation, with most irrigated crops requiring at least twice that amount. While the final price tag for project construction was nearly $162 million, it is regarded by many as a great bargain for Northern Colorado residents. PDF Colorado-Big Thompson Project and Windy Gap Project - Northern Water Windy Gap Project construction began in July 1981, was completed in 1985 and began delivering water to Municipal Subdistrict participants that same year. The Town's predominant water supply is from ownership of Units in the Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) and Windy Gap Projects through allotment contracts with the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (Northern Water). And that isnt all that difficult, because nearly every community already has wastewater-treatment plants.
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