History
The water and power control center for Colorado-Big Thompson Project`s reservoirs, powerplants, and transmission lines in Wyoming, Colorado, and western Nebraska is at the project headquarters in Loveland, Colorado. This Western Division of the Missouri River Basin is an interconnected system of 15 Reclamation powerplants.
The President approved Secretary of the Interior`s finding of feasibility on December 21, 1937.
The Colorado-Big Thompson Project is one of the largest and most complex natural resource developments undertaken by Reclamation. It consists of over 100 structures integrated into a transmountain water diversion system through which multiple benefits are provided to the people. The project spreads over approximately 250 miles in the Colorado. It stores, regulates, and diverts water from the Colorado River on the western slope of the Continental Divide to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. It provides supplemental water for irrigation of about 720,000 acres of land, municipal and industrial use, hydroelectric power, and water-oriented recreation opportunities.
Plan
Generation of hydroelectric power and water storage for the project. Olympus Syphon and Tunnel and Pole Hill Tunnel and Canal convey water from Lake Estes and some Big Thompson River floodwaters to a penstock, through which the water drops 815 feet to Pole Hill Powerplant. Water is then routed through Pole Hill Powerplant Afterbay, Rattlesnake Tunnel, Pinewood Lake, and Bald Mountain Pressure Tunnel and dropped to Flatiron Powerplant. The water and power control center for Colorado-Big Thompson Project`s reservoirs, powerplants, and transmission lines in Wyoming, Colorado, and western Nebraska is at the project headquarters in Loveland, Colorado. This Western Division of the Missouri River Basin is an interconnected system of 15 Reclamation powerplants. Normal operations. Maintenance costs were affected by the conclusion for ROM items. Low generation in 2001 is due to late spring runoff. The increase in water spilled was due to the need to by-pass water during the annual plant maintenance outage. The forced outage factor increased because of the lack of water following the annual outage. Western Electricity Coordinating Council, Rocky Mountain Power Area Western Area Power Administration, Rocky Mountain Region Conventional Above Ground Francis 33,250 kW 38,200 kW 1954 59 years 183,245,000 kWh 2007 825 ft
