# Further internet search: Whitney / Wild Horse gaps

Research cutoff: **23 September 2026**. This supplements the first search. It recovered a substantial engineering/permit record and sharper document identifiers, but **still did not recover a current Whitney-only annual-yield model, matched daily with/without-project simulations, or selected Whitney construction GIS**. No new basin capture percentage is defensible from these findings alone.

## New actual technical records

**1. BLM Wild Horse Phase 3 authorization and NEPA appendices — 131-page PDF, recovered from the official Colorado DRMS archive.** [Direct record](https://dnrweblink.state.co.us/DRMSSearch/0/edoc/1393214/2023-06-02_GENERAL%20DOCUMENTS%20-%20P2023013.pdf).

- PDF pp. 1–2 authorize testing and sampling, with an expiration of 31 December 2024; they do not grant a preference right to a later mineral-material sales contract/free-use permit. This is an investigation authorization, not permission to construct the reservoir.
- PDF pp. 4–9 identify **DOI-BLM-CO-F020-2023-0026-CX**, case **COC-080899**, and the 26 May 2023 signed categorical-exclusion determination. Earlier investigation identifiers are **2018-0077-CX / COC-079195** and **2021-0060-CX / COC-080565**.
- **PDF p. 20 is an especially useful records lead:** Aurora’s 21 February 2023 letter states that findings from the 2020 investigation and the 2021–2022 investigations had been delivered to BLM. It names Tetra Tech and Dewberry as engineering consultants. Request those delivered findings, their raw measurements and subsequent revisions by these exact identifiers.
- PDF pp. 30–31 describe an Otero inlet alignment, the former approximately 9,075-foot reservoir footprint, seepage investigations, and access-route shapefiles. PDF pp. 123–130 include April 2023 concept maps. These are older investigation maps; access-route shapefiles are not a selected water-supply network or current final reservoir GIS. No paired daily Homestake model was identified in the material examined. Several appendices are image-based, so text-search absence alone is not proof of absence.

**2. June 2023 DRMS correspondence — 4-page PDF.** [Direct record](https://dnrweblink.state.co.us/DRMSSearch/0/edoc/1394910/2023-06-29_GENERAL%20DOCUMENTS%20-%20P2023013.pdf). PDF pp. 1–3 identify the consulting team and list the original attachment filenames: `20230602 BLM to Aurora LOA Phase III-kb.pdf` and `DOI-BLM-CO-F020-2023-0026 CX with apps rpo-kb.pdf`. This correspondence is about investigation and borrow-material permitting; it supplies no annual export estimate.

## Current facts that alter interpretation

**Wild Horse’s site changed.** Aurora’s [13 February 2026 announcement](https://wildhorsereservoir.org/updates/update-on-wild-horse-south-reservoir/) says it shifted to **Wild Horse South** for further review and permitting. Consequently, the recovered 2023 original-site maps must not be presented as the current selected site. This is a Wild Horse change, not evidence of a selected Whitney alternative.

**There is contrary evidence to a simple “more storage means more Homestake exports” claim.** Aurora’s [February 2026 presentation Q&A](https://wildhorsereservoir.org/updates/events/feb-2026-questions/) says the project would use existing Colorado/Arkansas basin rights, receive water through Otero, and require no additional diversions. It also says filling time remains undetermined and depends on runoff and rights. This is the sponsor’s stated operating premise. The underlying source-specific daily model is still needed to test whether timing, utilization of existing rights, refill and dry-year source flows change. Do not turn either the assurance or a suspicion into a measured conclusion.

**CDPHE full application remains unavailable in this session.** Aurora links to [this exact CDPHE project page](https://cdphe.colorado.gov/water-quality/clean-water/dredge-and-fill/individual-authorizations/wild-horse-reservoir-project) and the [Water Quality Information Bulletin](https://cdphe.colorado.gov/water-quality-information-bulletin). Both returned HTTP 403. Searches for indexed official attachments and public alternate listings did not recover the application or appendices. The September 4 notice date remains a claim verified on Aurora’s official page, not an independently downloaded CDPHE notice. No comment deadline is asserted.

## More precise missing-document targets

Official search-indexed text of the **October 2016 Division 5 résumé, p. 31**, identifies the following reports. The legacy court URL now redirects to a search page; these are document-discovery leads, not recovered engineering reports:

| Date | Consultant | Report to request |
|---|---|---|
| April 15, 2009 | Grand River Consulting | Camp Hale to Eagle Park Reservoir Water Delivery System |
| July 13, 2009 | Black & Veatch | Eagle River to Climax Water Delivery System |
| January 2012 and January 2013 | Grand River Consulting | Water Yield Estimates for Homestake Project Expansion Options |
| April 2, 2012 | Black & Veatch | Eagle River Drainage Basin Diversion Projects |
| January 24, 2014 | Grand River Consulting, RJH Consultants, ERO Resources | Lower Homestake Creek Reservoir Sites |
| April 14, 2015 | RJH Consultants | Whitney Creek Phase I Investigation |

Source lead: [legacy official résumé URL](https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/File/Court_Probation/Water_Courts/Resumes/Div5/October%202016%20Resume.pdf); search capture `raw/gap_s20_web_capture.json` preserves the indexed p. 31 passage. Ask for these reports **and the latest superseding model files**, since their older alternatives may differ from present Whitney planning.

## Additional discrepancy, not a new yield estimate

The newly downloaded [CWCB-hosted January 2022 Arkansas Basin Implementation Plan, Volume 2](https://dnrweblink.state.co.us/cwcbsearch/0/edoc/216706/Arkansas_BIP_Volume2_2022.pdf), PDF p. 104, project **ARK-2015-0097**, contains **165,000.0** in an `Estimated_Yield` field with units `acre-feet (AF)`. It provides no annual time base or source-specific simulation in that row. This broad ERJU catalog entry does not establish Whitney yield and must not be converted to 165,000 AF/year. Reconcile the database field with its preparer and the March 2022 factsheet before using it. The anomaly is preserved for audit rather than silently discarded or adopted.

No completed Whitney borehole-results report, current Eagle County Whitney 1041 application, 2024–2026 consultant model package, selected Whitney GIS, or matched daily operations file was located by the targeted searches. That is a search outcome, not proof that the agencies do not hold them. The 18-page 2021 conservation-group notice was downloaded but lacks its cited agency exhibits; its allegations are not treated as agency findings or hydrologic measurements.

**Next action:** append `request_addendum.md` to the prepared, unsent agency requests. It names records now shown to have been delivered to BLM and distinguishes original-site material from current South-site material. Send the records requests only when the user authorizes sending; none has been sent here.

Source receipts, hashes, access failures and captured search results are in `source_index.json/.csv` and `raw/`. Origin-server bytes are distinguished from web-rendered captures. Exact UTC download times are recorded; early web batches retain the retrieval date and preservation timestamp only, explicitly labeled.