
Pueblo Chieftain: "A draft environmental assessment has been released for a 40-year contract that would allow Aurora to store and exchange water in the Arkansas Valley in Bureau of Reclamation projects. Aurora, a city of 300,000 east of Denver, uses parts of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project to move water from purchases it made in the Lower Arkansas Valley in the 1980s and in Lake County in recent years. In the past, Aurora applied for excess capacity contracts on an annual basis, but is seeking long-term assurances of its ability to move water...
"Aurora is asking for 10,000 acre-feet of storage space in Lake Pueblo, along with 10,000 acre-feet of exchange capacity. The storage space could be emptied and refilled throughout the year. The exchange is a paper trade with the bureau that allows Aurora to move water into Turquoise or Twin Lakes, where it pumps it into the South Platte River basin. Aurora currently is charged $43.76 per acre foot for storage, compared with $24.10 for cities within the Arkansas Valley. Additionally, if Lake Pueblo fills, Aurora's water is the first to be released since the city lies outside the valley. In addition, Aurora will pay the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District $24 million over the life of the contract, under a 2003 intergovernmental agreement. An environmental assessment on the project will determine if there are significant impacts that would need further study under a full environmental impact statement. If there are no significant impacts, the bureau and Aurora will continue contract negotiations...
"The document reveals Aurora is projecting to double its population and water demand by 2050, and will keep in place severe conservation measures that began during the 2002 drought. Aurora also will reuse about one-fourth of its water supply as drinking water by the year 2020. The Arkansas River basin provides an estimated 25-40 percent of Aurora's water now, and that proportion is not expected to increase. Under the 2003 IGA, Aurora will not purchase new water rights and will limit lease activities...
"In lieu of Lake Pueblo storage, Aurora would likely develop a 500-acre gravel pit near the Pueblo County Airport into a 10,000 acre-foot reservoir. The $40 million project would take about 10 years to complete, according to the report. Aurora would need to look for other ways to use and exchange its water rights in the Arkansas Valley. In the short term, that might reduce exports as water rights cases were sent back to court, and some water rights could be sold or traded to other users, the report states. In the long term, denial of a contract could lead to more purchases or leases by Aurora in the Arkansas Valley, since IGA provisions would presumably go away."
Category: Colorado Water
6:56:35 AM
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