The Fryingpan-Arkansas Project is a multipurpose transmountain, transbasin water diversion and delivery project in Colorado. It makes possible an average annual diversion of 69,200 acre-feet of surplus water from the Fryingpan River and other tributaries Water diverted from the western slope, together with available water supplies in the Arkansas River Basin, provides an average annual water supply of 80,400 acre-feet for both municipal/domestic use and the supplemental irrigation of 280,600 acres in the The project also includes one powerplant with a generating capacity of 200 megawatts.
History
The area of the project north and east of the Arkansas River was a part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Following the war with Mexico, Texas claimed the remainder of the project area. Mexican claims to the territory were relinquished in 1845 when Texas Various Spanish explorers visited the project area during the years 1760-80. Lieutenant Zebulon Pike headed the first official exploration by the United States in 1806-07. Captain John C. Fremont and Captain John W. Gunnison directed later explorations. T
Construction
Construction of the project began with Ruedi Dam and Reservoir in 1964. Project water for irrigation and municipal and industrial purposes was available in September, 1975. Power was first delivered from the Mt. Elbert powerplant in 1981. Initial deliveri Water diverted from the western slope and regulation of the Arkansas River flows provides supplemental irrigation supplies for 280,600 irrigable acres in the Arkansas Valley. Project water, first delivered in 1975 has enabled farms to sustain and increase Because of the ability to diversify crops and meet peak demands, the value of total crop production of the Arkansas Valley has increased. Major crops grown are alfalfa, corn, sorghum, and sugar beets. Specialty crops such as onions, beans, various nuts, t Water for municipal and industrial use was developed by the project to supplement existing supplies and was first delivered in 1975. A separate water delivery pipeline system, the Fountain Valley Conduit, begins at Pueblo Dam and conveys water to organiza The cities of Colorado Springs and Aurora have contracted to use the conveyance system of the Fryingpan- Arkansas Project from Turquoise Lake for transportation of municipal water supplies owned by the two cities. Homestake Project water is pumped from Tw The Mt. Elbert power generation and transmission system is connected to the Public Service Company of Colorado transmission system at the Malta substation near Leadville. This interconnection with Public Service Company enables Fryingpan-Arkansas Project The Bureau of Reclamation has developed recreation facilities throughout the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project in cooperation with the National Park Service, Forest Service, and State and local agencies. Dominant game fish found in the streams on the western slope include rainbow, brown, cutthroat, and brook trout. Development of Ruedi Dam and Reservoir has increased the available fish habitat in the area, and the Fryingpan River immediately downstream fr Recreation activities at Turquoise Lake include sightseeing, camping, swimming, water skiing, boating, and hunting. Development of the lake has increased the aquatic habitat and surface acreage available for fish. Species in this area include kokanee salm The Mt. Elbert Conduit permits delivery of up to 3,000 gallons per minute of high quality water to the Leadville National Fish Hatchery. Dominant big game species are deer and elk, which migrate into the Twin Lakes area each winter and scatter throughout Recreation at Twin Lakes and the Mt. Elbert Forebay and Powerplant complex is water-oriented; fishing and boating are the major activities. Facilities consist of a boat ramp, a boat and trailer parking lot, and two car- parking lots with minimum sanitary Pueblo Reservoir provides water-oriented recreation in the Arkansas Valley. The Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Colorado State Parks manage facilities constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation including the north and south shore boat ramp, the A combination warm water fish hatchery and cold water rearing unit, managed and administered by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, is located downstream from Pueblo Dam. This hatchery provides most of the fingerlings for stocking Pueblo Reservo For specific information about recreation at any of these sites, click on the name below. http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=1703 http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=90 http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=91 http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=92 http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=93 The Fryingpan-Arkansas Project has provided an accumulated $16,814,000 in flood control benefits from 1950 to 1999. The location of Ruedi Reservoir on the western slope provides an exceptionally beautiful background for swimming, boating, water skiing, fishing, picnicking, camping, and general relaxation. The Forest Service has developed and is managing these recreatio
Plan
The terminal storage facility, Pueblo Dam and Reservoir, is located on the Arkansas River in Pueblo County about 6 miles upstream and west of the city of Pueblo. The reservoir has a total storage capacity of 357,678 acre-feet: 30,355 acre-feet of dead and Pueblo Dam is a concrete dam combined with two earthfill embankment `wings` on the right and left sides of the dam. The concrete dam and massive-head buttress-type spillway is the principal control structure for the reservoir. The concrete section is 1,75 The dam has seven outlets in all, six in the concrete portion and one through the right earthfill abutment. The main river outlet works is controlled by two 4-foot-square high- pressure gates, which regulate normal water releases into the river. Additiona The Fountain Valley Conduit begins at Pueblo Dam and ends near Academy Boulevard about 2 miles south of Colorado Springs. The conduit conveys approximately 20,100 acre-feet of project water annually to the communities of Stratmoor Hills, Widefield, Securi The Bureau of Reclamation operates and maintains the dams and reservoirs described here. The U.S. Forest Service manages the recreation, fish and wildlife facilities, and resources at Ruedi Reservoir, Turquoise Lake, and Twin Lakes. At Pueblo Dam and Rese For specific information about any of these dams and reservoir sites, click on the name below. http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=91 http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/leadvile/turqrog.htm http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/leadvile/twinrog.htm http://parks.state.co.us/ The project is divided into two distinct areas: the western slope, located within the Hunter Creek and Fryingpan River watersheds in the White River National Forests at elevations above 10,000 feet, and the eastern slope in the Arkansas Valley. The proje Ruedi Dam and Reservoir provide storage for replacement and regulation of approximately 100,000 acre-feet of water for the western slope users. This water is used for irrigation, municipal benefits, recreation, and fish and wildlife enhancement. The North Side and South Side Systems collect the runoff from melting snow in the high mountains. The diverted waters of the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork River Basins flow into the inlet portal of the Charles H. Boustead Tunnel. Boustead has a decreed dive Turquoise Lake and Sugar Loaf Dam are located just east of the Continental Divide, approximately 5 miles west of Leadville, Colorado. The lake provides storage capacity for the regulation of project water flowing from the Boustead Tunnel. The Mt. Elbert Conduit conveys water from Turquoise Lake to the Mt. Elbert Forebay. The Halfmoon Diversion Dam intercepts the excess flows of Halfmoon Creek for diversion to the Mt. Elbert Conduit. Water delivered to the forebay is used for generation of Twin Lakes Dam is approximately 2,500 feet downstream from the original Twin Lakes. From Twin Lakes, project water is released to Lake Creek and the Arkansas River for delivery to project water users upstream of Pueblo Reservoir, or for storage in Pueblo Project water is released from Pueblo Reservoir to the Arkansas River for irrigation and municipal purposes, to the Fountain Valley Conduit for municipal purposes, to the Bessemer Ditch for irrigation, and to the Pueblo Fish Hatchery for the fishery. Construction is complete on all of the project features that were initially designed. Features that were authorized but have not been built include the Last Chance Tunnel and the Line Creek Intercept (parts of the western slope collection system); the Cle The concrete spillway structure has an uncontrolled Ogee crest, a chute section, a stilling basin, and a bridge over the spillway. The spillway has a capacity of 5,540 cubic feet per second. The outlet works, located under the right abutment of the dam, c The auxiliary outlet works consist of an intake structure with trashracks, a 6-foot-diameter concrete-lined circular tunnel to a gate chamber housing a set of 2.5- by 3-foot tandem gates, and a concrete-lined 5-by-6-foot flat-bottom tunnel. The capacity i A concrete bypass, consisting of a concrete chute and stilling basin, carries flows of Rocky Fork Creek past the discharge of the spillway and auxiliary outlet. Collection Systems The North and South Side Collection Systems are located at elevations of approximately 10,000 feet. The facilities divert and carry water from the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork River Basins to the inlet portal of the Boustead Tunnel, the tunnel that transpor The North Side Collection System diverts, collects, and transports an average of 18,400 acre-feet of water annually through the facilities on Mormon, Carter, Ivanhoe, Granite, Lily Pad, North Cunningham, MiddleCunningham, and South Cunningham Creeks. Carter Tunnel is the first collection tunnel on the North Side Collection System. Water is diverted into the tunnel by Carter Diversion Dam through the 300-foot, 42-inch Carter Feeder Conduit to the inlet of the Carter Tunnel. The North Fork Diversion Dam The Mormon Tunnel extends southward from Mormon Creek. The Mormon Feeder Conduit connects the Mormon Creek diversion structure to the intake portal of the Mormon Tunnel. The conduit is a 250-foot-long structure, including a Parshall flume- type measuring The diversion structures on North, Middle, and South Cunningham Creeks are connected to the Cunningham Conduit by feeder conduits which extend to Cunningham Tunnel. The combined length of the three feeder conduits is 2,700 feet, and the Cunningham Conduit Ivanhoe Diversion Dam diverts water from Ivanhoe Creek and the Cunningham Tunnel through the Ivanhoe Creek crossing into the inlet of the Nast Tunnel. Farther south, the Granite Diversion Dam diverts water from Granite Creek through the Granite Siphon to The South Side Collection System transports an average of 50,800 acre-feet of project water annually from the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork River Basins. The system collects and diverts water from facilities located on No Name, Midway, Hunter, and Sawyer Cre Hunter Tunnel is 7.6 miles long. It transports the flows diverted at No Name, Midway, and Hunter Creeks to Chapman Gulch at the Chapman Diversion Dam. The capacity ranges from 90 cfs at No Name Creek-the beginning point of the South Side Collection System The No Name, Midway, and Hunter Creek diversion structures are all similar. Each has a sluice gate for bypassing all streamflow when water is not being diverted. When diversions are being made, minimum flow is released through a bypass to maintain the str The Sawyer diversion drop inlet diverts water from Sawyer Lake into the Sawyer Feeder Conduit (3,098 feet in length), which carries the water to Chapman Gulch. Hunter Tunnel and the Sawyer Feeder Conduit both empty into Chapman Gulch, and the water then f The South Fork Diversion Dam diverts water from the South Fork of the Fryingpan River to the South Fork Siphon, where it combines with the flow from the Chapman Tunnel and is conveyed by the South Fork Feeder Conduit to the inlet of the South Fork Tunnel. The Fryingpan Diversion Dam diverts water into the Fryingpan Siphon, under the Fryingpan River, to the inlet structure of the Boustead Tunnel. At the Boustead Tunnel, flows from the Fryingpan Siphon, the South Fork Tunnel, and the Fryingpan Conduit (part The Charles H. Boustead Tunnel conveys all the water collected in the North and South Side Collection Systems under the Continental Divide to Turquoise Lake. The 10.5-foot-diameter, horseshoe-shaped tunnel is approximately 5.4 miles long. Its decreed capa Sugar Loaf Dam and Turquoise Lake are east of the Continental Divide on the Lake Fork of the Arkansas River in Lake County, approximately 5 miles west of Leadville. The reservoir storage capacity is 129,440 acre-feet. Sugar Loaf Dam is an earthfill struct The spillway has a capacity of 2,920 cfs and consists of a morning-glory intake structure, a 16.5-foot-diameter monolithic concrete conduit, a chute, and a stilling basin. The outlet works consist of an intake structure with trashracks; a 7-foot- diameter A short 72-inch-diameter steel branch outlet pipe with a bulkhead is provided upstream from the bifurcation for future use, and as an outlet to the Mt. Elbert Conduit. The capacity of the river outlet is 1,120 cfs, and the capacity of the outlet to the Mt The waters of Turquoise Lake are also retained by an 11-foot-high dike, approximately 6,000 feet northeast of Sugar Loaf Dam. The dike is 475 feet long. The Mt. Elbert Conduit conveys project water from Turquoise Lake to the Mt. Elbert Forebay. Water delivered to the forebay is used for the generation of power in the Mt. Elbert Pumped Storage Powerplant. At Halfmoon Creek, additional water is diverted int The Halfmoon Diversion Dam intercepts the excess flows of Halfmoon Creek for diversion to the Mt. Elbert Conduit. The diversion dam consists of a concrete spillway overflow structure, earth-wing dike structures, a gated concrete structure to bypass irriga The Mt. Elbert Forebay occupies a saddle on a ridge above Twin Lakes Reservoir. The rolled earthfill forebay dam is about 2,600 feet long and 92 feet high. A 130-foot-long earth dike closes a low saddle at the southwest end of the reservoir. In 1980, the There is no spillway in the forebay dam. The only outlet is through a channel from the southeast corner of the reservoir that connects to the inlet-outlet structure for the powerplant penstock. However, natural flow into the reservoir is negligible. The Mt. Elbert Pumped-Storage Powerplant is on the north shore of picturesque Twin Lakes, approximately 13 miles southwest of Leadville, at the foot of 14,433-foot Mt. Elbert, Colorado`s highest mountain peak. The powerplant was designed with modern archi To supplement the flow-through water received from Turquoise Lake via the Mt. Elbert Conduit, these generators have been designed to operate as a 170,000-horsepower electric motor that drives the turbines in reverse, pumping the same water back up to refi Twin Lakes Dam and Reservoir is approximately 13 miles south of Leadville, in Lake County. The reservoir has a total capacity of 141,000 acre-feet. The dam is a zoned, rolled earthfill structure with a height above streambed of 53 feet. The crest of the d The spillway is on the left abutment of the dam, and has a capacity of 1,400 cfs. The spillway is an uncontrolled concrete morning-glory inlet structure with a 9-foot-diameter concrete conduit under the dam embankment and a concrete stilling basin. A chan There are five dams and reservoirs in the project. Ruedi Dam and Reservoir, on the Fryingpan River, is the only one of these on the western slope; the other four are on the eastern slope. Sugar Loaf Dam and Turquoise Lake, Mt. Elbert Forebay Dam and Reser Seventeen diversion structures on the western slope are used to divert water into the Fryingpan-Arkansas collection system. The project includes nine tunnels with a combined length of 26.7 miles. The collection system is divided into two parts: North and
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