From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
Updated figures were presented Thursday to the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, sponsors of the conduit. The district received the final report produced in preparation for the National Environmental Policy Act review now being conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation…
The 500-page report also revises cost estimates of four alternatives for the 135-mile conduit. Construction costs range from $330 million to $396 million — up from $300 million in 2006 — depending on the alignment of the conduit, said Kevin Meador of Black and Veatch Engineering…
In addition to the population increase, the amount of water needed for the conduit on average each year would increase to 14,000 acre-feet — or 12.3 million gallons per day from current levels of about 10,000 acre-feet, the report revealed. While there could be 42 communities in the project, the nine largest participants would use 80 percent of the water, Meador said.