RANKING OF RELATIVE RESERVOIR STORAGE FOR COLORADO COMMUNITIES
December 2017
Ranking is used to compare the level of security provided by water storage in the benchmarked
communities. In order to take community size into account, a relative value was calculated using a simple
ratio for the amount of reservoir storage available to the expected peak day water demand. Table 1,
below, ranks the benchmarked communities by this ratio, from most secure to least.
Table 1: Ranking of Colorado Communities Current Raw Water Storage 

Community

Expected 
Raw Water  Expected Peak  Peak Day, 
Storage, AF Day, Gallons
AF

Ratio of 
Storage to 
Expected 
Peak Day

Denver

          692,846          360,000,000            1,104.8

627.1

Eagle River/Upper 
Eagle Regional 
Steamboat
Boulder
Gypsum
Basalt
Carbondale
Breckenridge
Glenwood
Snowmass
Aspen

               7,225
               2,280
            27,400
                  947
                  500
                  500
                  770
                  500
                  252
                       9

305.7
232.2
228.9
215.8
128.3
81.5
77.0
39.4
26.1
0.3

              7,700,000
              3,200,000
            39,000,000
              1,430,000
              1,270,000
              2,000,000
              3,260,000
              4,140,000
              3,150,000
            10,210,000

                 23.6
                   9.8
              119.7
                   4.4
                   3.9
                   6.1
                 10.0
                 12.7
                   9.7
                 31.3

To demonstrate the impact of providing additional storage for Aspen, the ranking was also performed
including additional storage of 8,500 AF in Aspen’s system.
Table 2: Ranking of Colorado Communities with Additional Aspen Raw Water Storage 

Community

Expected 
Raw Water  Expected Peak  Peak Day, 
Storage, AF Day, Gallons
AF

Ratio of 
Storage to 
Expected 
Peak Day

Denver

          692,846          360,000,000            1,104.8

627.1

Eagle River/Upper 
Eagle Regional 
Aspen
Steamboat
Boulder
Gypsum
Basalt
Carbondale
Breckenridge
Glenwood
Snowmass

               7,225
               8,509
               2,280
            27,400
                  947
                  500
                  500
                  770
                  500
                  252

305.7
271.6
232.2
228.9
215.8
128.3
81.5
77.0
39.4
26.1  

              7,700,000
            10,210,000
              3,200,000
            39,000,000
              1,430,000
              1,270,000
              2,000,000
              3,260,000
              4,140,000
              3,150,000

                 23.6
                 31.3
                   9.8
              119.7
                   4.4
                   3.9
                   6.1
                 10.0
                 12.7
                   9.7