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CCP Advantages

Benefits Quick List

  • Platte River Recovery Program for Endangered Species;
  • Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program;
  • Eastern and Western Slope drought, growth, and environmental needs;
  • Black Canyon of the Gunnison Optimal River Flows;
  • Excessive dewatering of Platte, Arkansas, and Colorado Main Stem Rivers;
  • Continuing Colorado-Kansas dispute over Arkansas River quantity and quality;
  • Rio Grande River drought flows for endangered species;
  • Southwest’s growing shortage of assured, safe and flexible drought protection.

CONCEPTUAL ADVANTAGES

CCP’s innovative concept assumes that Western headwater states should pump some of their high quality snowmelt into high altitude, off-river reservoirs during heavy runoff years to protect cities, farms, and environments, when and where needed, throughout multiple river basins during multi-year droughts;

CCP will be filled from existing federal reservoirs with reversible pump-generators during spring flood months, when surplus pumping power is available at low rates from the Western power grid;

Revenues from CCP’s advanced pumped-storage, peaking power facilities can offset all or most of its fixed and variable water supply and drought protection costs;

After CCP’s construction bonds are repaid, its clean peaking power revenues can substantially reduce projected Western water user costs throughout the new millennium;

CCP can store and beneficially use Colorado’s overlooked Aspinall Pool federal water rights (300,000 acre-feet), which were authorized by Congress in 1957 for both slopes. CCP could also store water entitlements of other states;

CCP can save up to 1.2 million acre-feet of Colorado’s wasted Colorado River entitlements in high, off-river, Gunnison storage during wet cycles. These conserved high quality headwaters will then be available at 10,000 feet for assured gravity deliveries, when needed, throughout the Gunnison, Colorado, South Platte, Arkansas and Rio Grande River Basins;

CCP’s flexible high storage can optimize river flows for fish and recreation, while increasing water quantity, quality, reliability, and reuse opportunities, throughout Colorado and down river states;

CCP’s multi-basin drought protection benefits can quickly integrate conflicting utility infrastructures into a safer, cost-effective, regional water supply and drought protection system;

CCP is a unique win-win water and power project for the untapped Gunnison Basin of origin, and for urban and rural stakeholders throughout both slopes;

CCP’s high storage concept can substantially reduce regional evaporation losses, i.e. 1.5 feet annually from surface of CCP vs. 7 feet from Lake Powell;

CCP’s expected 10 to 1 benefit-cost ratio for enhancement of water rights and utilities throughout five major river systems is about 500% more efficient than any other current or proposed Western water storage project;

CCP can quickly solve regional water quality, endangered species, farm dry-up, Front Range growth, Black Canyon, Kansas shortages, etc., without additional dewatering of Colorado’s excessively depleted South Platte, Arkansas, and Colorado Main Stem Rivers, as well as regional ground water reserves;

CCP can be owned and managed by cooperating Western and Eastern Slope water providers; or a Statewide Water Authority; or a Regional Water Authority;

CCP’s unique high altitude, multi-basin, pumped-storage water and power enhancement concept can serve as a watershed pilot program to solve the West’s escalating clean water and power crisis for future droughts and growth.