Felt Reappointed to Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District Board

Posted By: Terry West April 9, 2021

Chaffee County Commissioner Greg Felt was recently appointed to a second four-year term on the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District.

The appointment was made by a panel of Chief District Court Judges in the Arkansas River basin.

SECWCD was formed in 1958 to develop and operate the Fryingpan-Arkansas (Fry-Ark) Project in conjunction with the Bureau of Reclamation. The Fry-Ark Project is a transmountain diversion that supplies southeastern Colorado with improved supplemental water supply and provides flood control for the area. It encompasses about 5,142 square miles in nine counties and serves a population of about 893,000. Major elements of the Fry-Ark Project include Ruedi Reservoir, the Boustead Tunnel, Turquoise Reservoir, Twin Lakes Reservoir, the Mount Elbert Forebay and Power Plant, Pueblo Reservoir, and The Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC). The AVC is in its initial phase of construction and will deliver high quality drinking water to many municipal water service providers in the lower Arkansas River valley. The District, through its Enterprise, also built and operates the James W. Broderick Hydropower Plant at Pueblo Dam.

The Fry-Ark Project imports an average of 58,000 acre-feet of fully consumable water to the Arkansas River basin each year from the headwaters of the Fryingpan River. In addition to supplying supplemental water for irrigation, augmentation, and municipal/industrial uses, the additional water supply is managed to achieve the fishery and recreation goals of the Arkansas River Voluntary Flow Management Program, including the effort to maintain minimum boating flows of 700 cfs at the Wellsville Gauge from July 1 to August 15 each summer.

“The Fry-Ark Project has a huge impact in Chaffee County,” said Felt. “The supplemental water we contract for each year supports local agriculture, municipal water supplies, and well augmentation in the rural parts of the county. In addition, the Voluntary Flow Management Program has provided a more reliable summer river flow for our recreation economy while also modifying the spring flow regime to support the fishery.”

A professional river outfitter for the last thirty years, Felt has long been engaged in state and local water issues. In addition to his roles of Chaffee County Commissioner and Chaffee County Director for SECWD, he is Vice-Chairman of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District Board of Directors, represents Chaffee County on the Arkansas Basin Roundtable, and was appointed by Governor Polis in February 2020 to represent the entire Arkansas River Basin on the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

Additional information on the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District can be found at secwcd.org.

Terry West
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