Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I did the train ride through the Royal Gorge today. Several of us wondered why build such a pipe when the water will end up...via the river...right in Canon City anyway? We asked at the museum, and they had no idea why, either. Anyone know?
If I am correct, the answer to your question is that Royal Gorge Ranch, Inc. intends to acquire a large portion of Cañon City's water. The 'proposed'* pipe and other infrastructure would be for the purposes of this diversion.[1]
Royal Gorge Ranch, Inc. would be a private enterprise situated on 2,400 acres, abutting US 50 to the north, and Royal Gorge Park to its south. It appears that it would be necessary to drive through this development to reach Royal Gorge Park. This private resort would include a large lodge and cabins, expanded to also have 200 units in a fractional ownership hotel, a Western theme park with rodeo arena, an 18-hole resort golf course, 300 unit RV park designed to accommodate semi-trucks, 600 condominiums, 1,300 homes.
Geology of the area would not provide enough water from wells for such a complex, with all the water in the nearby Arkansas River spoken for. However Cañon City has 26 million gallons of water rights, with the priority to at least some of this dating back to August 13, 1864. Of this total the town presently uses on average 6 million gallons daily, and a peak during a drought (about 2001) of 11 million daily gallons.
This is the water that Royal Gorge Ranch, Inc. wishes to get its hands on. They want to acquire rights to 1,615,000 daily gallons of Cañon City water. Aside from the issue of Cañon City ceding this water to them, they feel it possible because 100 years ago Cañon City built a water diversion inlet on the Arkansas River, about 1 mile west of the present Royal Gorge Bridge, with a pipeline running from there about 8 miles into Cañon City. Royal Gorge Ranch, Inc. wishes to tap into this pipeline, taking the water from the point of this diversion.
As near as I can tell the only benefits accruing to Cañon City for giving up 1,615,000 daily gallons of its water, and possibly more in time, would be some tangential tourism revenue from this complex, with Royal Gorge Ranch, Inc. offering to split revenues 50/50 from that made selling this Cañon City water.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of public information readily available on this proposed transaction, perhaps by design. It may have been approved and reality now. Or perhaps having been delayed or fallen through. I have no idea. Hopefully the citizens of Cañon City know the the status of their water, and where it is ending up.
* This information is dated, from a 2005 source. I do not know the current status of these plans.
That's interesting...really...and I appreciate all the info.
But I guess I was unclear that my question was more historical. Why, back more than a century, did they build that 8 mile water pipe (the original was actually a redwood pipe, and then later that was replaced by a steel pipe) to transport water, when the water would just naturally flow right through Canon City anyway. In other words, they spent a lot of money, did a lot of work, and maintained a piping system through a very inhospitable environment for water that would naturally flow right past their doors.
That's interesting...really...and I appreciate all the info.
But I guess I was unclear that my question was more historical. Why, back more than a century, did they build that 8 mile water pipe (the original was actually a redwood pipe, and then later that was replaced by a steel pipe) to transport water, when the water would just naturally flow right through Canon City anyway. In other words, they spent a lot of money, did a lot of work, and maintained a piping system through a very inhospitable environment for water that would naturally flow right past their doors.
Thanks.
It's called "head." By capturing the water at a higher elevation and piping it to town, the water system could be naturally pressurized. Back when, before electric pumps, to pump water from the river at town would have taken steam "donkey" pumps fired by coal. That would have required constant tending, etc., and building the pipe was considered a better alternative.
Water can be measured by storage amount or by flow:
Storage amount:
1 acre-foot = 325,851 gallons
Flow amount:
1 cubic foot per second = 448.83 gallons per minute (rounded to 450 gpm)
Flow to storage conversion:
1 cfs will fill 1 acre/foot of storage in 12 hours 6 minutes (rounded to 12 hrs.)
So, from the post above, just how much is 65 million gallons of water? About 200 acre/feet
Well, at 1 cfs flow, it would take appoximately 100 days to supply the 65 million gallons.
Now, compare this to a well-irrigated alfalfa field. That can take 24" or 2 acre/feet per acre to irrigate the field for a season. That means that 65 million gallons would irrigate roughly a 100 acre alfalfa field for one season. So, Nestle's water plant potential impact on agricultural water supplies (or streamflows) is chicken feed compared to what the Front Range sucks out the watersheds to irrigate those damned Kentucky Bluegrass lawns--which consume about the same water per year per acre for irrigation as that alfalfa field does per acre.
Just for comparison, the ranch I used to live on, not a huge irrigated acreage by Colorado standards, had roughly 12.5 cfs of water rights, most with seniority dates going back to about 1900.
While one concern was water pressure back in the early 1900s, of greater concern was the high alkalai content in the rocks and sediment in the gorge leaching into the towns water supply. That's why prison labor built our 8 mile long California redwood water line. It made Canon City the first town in Colorado with city wide running water, and served the town until a hard freeze caused extensive damage and the water line was abandoned in 1975. It is now a protected landmark, and a great part of the history of Canon City, and the Royal Gorge Route Railroad
I really miss Idunn and Jazz. They were two of the most well informed posters around here.
I've been thinking of taking up the gauntlet on the future of water in Colorado, but theirs are some pretty big shoes to fill.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Royal Gorge Ranch, Inc.
