Wyoming State Water Plan, Wyoming Water Development Office
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Northeast Wyoming River Basins Water Plan
Technical Memoranda

SUBJECT: Appendix J
Storage Operation and Description
KEYHOLE

PREPARED BY: HKM Engineering Inc.

DATE: March 2002



KEY STORAGE FACILITIES

Reservoir:KEYHOLE
Date:12 Feb. 2001
Location: NWNW 27,T51N,R66W
Owner: United States Bureau of Reclamation
Year of Construction: 1952
Total Storage: 634,639 acre-feet
Active Storage: 185,801 acre-feet
Inactive Storage: 7,226 acre-feet
Dead Storage: 726 acre-feet
Inviolate Flood Control Storage: 140,462 acre-feet
Dam Construction Type: Zoned earth fill
Area/Capacity Table: (Source: 1978 Area Capacity Tables, computed 3/3/81, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Rapid City, South Dakota.)

Area Table (acres, elevations in 1-ft. increments)
          0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

0 0 0 1 1 1 9 17 25 33

41 61 81 102 122 142 180 218 255 293

331 372 413 454 495 536 581 627 672 718

763 815 868 920 973 1,025 1,130 1,236 1,341 1,447

1,552 1,632 1,712 1,793 1,873 1,953 2,044 2,134 2,225 2,315

2,406 2,570 2,734 2,899 3,063 3,227 3,378 3,529 3,680 3,831

3,982 4,198 4,414 4,630 4,846 5,062 5,303 5,544 5,785 6,026

6,267 6,608 6,950 7,291 7,633 7,974 8,308 8,642 6,977 9,311

9,645 9,982 10,319 10,655 10,992 11,329 11,693 12,057 12,422 12,786

13,150 13,537 13,924 14,311 14,698 15,085 15,461 15,837 16,213 16,589

16,965 17,383 17,801 18,219 18,637 19,055 19,505 19,955 20,406 20,856

Volume Table (acre-feet, elevations in 1-ft. increments)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

0 0 0 1 2 2 7 20 41 70
4,030 107 169 230 321 433 565 726 926 1,161 1,435
4,040 1,747 2,099 2,491 2,925 3,399 3,915 4,474 5,078 5,727 6,422
4,050 7,162 7,952 8,793 9,687 10,634 11,632 12,710 13,899 15,182 16,576
4,060 18,075 19,667 21,339 23,092 24,925 20,837 28,836 30,925 33,104 35,374
4,070 37,735 40,223 42,875 45,692 48,673 51,817 55,120 58,573 62,178 65,933
4,080 69,840 73,930 78,236 82,758 87,496 92,450 97,632 103,056 108,720 114,626
4,090 120,772 127,210 133,989 141,110 148,572 156,375 164,516 172,991 181,801 190,945
4,100 200,422 210,236 220,386 230,873 241,697 252,857 264,369 276,244 288,483 301,087
4,110 314,055 327,398 341,129 355,246 369,751 384,642 399,915 415,564 431,589 447,990
4,120 461,767 481,941 499,533 517,543 535,971 554,817 574,098 593,828 614,009 634,639

From permit map:
Approximately 70,000 acre-feet of the original 200,000 acre-feet of Normal Water Surface elevation may ultimately be filled with sediment.

Storage capacity above elevation 4099.3 is for flood control and super storage.

Normal water surface is at top of controlled storage capacity.

Outlet: Concrete-lined, horseshoe-shaped tunnel, 9.5 feet x 8.25 feet high through the left abutment. Release capacities of about 1,480 cubic feet per second are controlled by two vertical lift, high-pressure hydraulic slide gates.
Spillway: Uncontrolled concrete crest and concrete-lined open channel at the right abutment at 4099.3 feet, 19.25 feet wide, with a capacity of 11,000 cfs.
End-of-Month Storage Records: Yes
Water Rights: (Source: Tabulation of Adjudicated Surface Water Rights of the State of Wyoming, Water Division Number Two, Oct. 1999)
Reservoir Permit Number Permitted Use Priority Date Volume (af) Headgate Location (S-T-R)
Keyhole Res 5707R D,I,S,Min,Mun,Ind 09-10-1949 190000 28-51-066

Ninety percent of conservation storage (193,753 acre-feet) is reserved for South Dakota. This services approximately 57,200 irrigable acres in the vicinity of Belle Fourche and Newell, South Dakota A portion of South Dakota's allocation currently has no contract and is maintained in the U.S. (federal) account.

Of Wyoming's portion (10 percent of active storage), 18,080 acre- feet have been purchased by the Crook County Irrigation District. The remaining 500 acre-feet were purchased by Shattuck Hills. Wyoming's 10 percent of active storage is reserved in the Belle Fourche Compact.
Designated Use: Flood control, irrigation, stock and fire protection, and other uses
Recreational Use: Fishing, boating, camping, swimming
Associated Irrigation Diversions: All irrigation diversions downstream of Keyhole Reservoir on the Belle Fourche are affected. Eighteen Wyoming irrigators are members of the Crook County Irrigation District, which owns the majority of the 10 percent share of the conservation pool discussed above.
Associated Industrial Diversions: None
Operational Discussion: From the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation web page http://gphyd0.gp.usbr.gov/aop/um/97/KEYRUS97.HTM [new link 10/2009 HERE]

The flood control space at Keyhole Reservoir is all located above an ungated spillway. The spillway capacity is 11,000 cfs at maximum water surface elevation. The downstream safe channel capacity is 3,000 cfs. Formulas for forecasting inflows have not been developed. Research by the Soil Conservation Service during water years 1992 through 1994 show that inflow forecasting to Keyhole Reservoir is not reliable since there is no consistent snowpack and precipitation is highly cyclical. No further efforts to develop forecast models are planned.

Releases are made upon requests from the Crook County Irrigation District in Wyoming and the Belle Fourche Irrigation District in South Dakota.
References: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation web page http://gphyd0.gp.usbr.gov/aop/um/97/KEYRUS97.HTM [new link 10/2009 HERE]

Map to Accompany Application, Keyhole Reservoir, United States of America Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation, Billings, Montana, 18 Aug. 1965.

Net evaporative loss for Keyhole Reservoir:

Historical End of Month Contents:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1970 121,365 123,588 126,445 131,275 138,859 138,375 130,281 121,048 118,763 120,984 120,413 120,413
1971 117,730 122,889 137,754 161,420 168,271 173,321 165,512 156,038 153,367 117,304 117,000 117,061
1972 157,052 176,613 179,144 178,301 180,197 183,794 180,373 176,528 170,543 157,130 156,818 156,818
1973 167,297 167,459 168,514 172,646 172,815 171,465 164,781 157,754 157,286 167,540 167,216 167,297
1974 162,122 167,297 168,271 167,946 166,323 161,966 151,344 142,333 139,342 157,286 156,272 156,584
1975 137,892 137,892 144,203 151,568 156,974 158,378 151,344 141,037 136,097 138,514 137,961 137,823
1976 134,094 138,030 139,688 140,606 141,325 151,643 147,297 140,821 133,749 134,508 133,610 133,818
1977 131,407 131,937 135,820 144,059 142,908 140,102 129,221 115,359 113,503 131,606 131,407 131,010
1978 112,281 112,689 152,093 153,142 189,922 172,731 172,140 165,187 158,768 114,143 112,049 112,223
1979 157,130 157,598 168,109 171,380 167,054 162,122 157,832 152,692 147,822 157,208 155,882 156,662
1980 143,196 147,597 149,096 148,871 143,700 139,549 128,029 107,769 106,044 145,355 143,772 143,484
1981 102,176 102,176 103,595 94,799 74,774 62,473 55,188 47,192 42,657 102,983 101,644 102,016
1982 41,688 45,345 46,687 47,162 56,759 62,621 60,573 56,828 55,935 42,062 41,662 41,608
1983 61,299 66,857 68,063 68,573 68,456 66,741 56,828 51,399 50,508 58,221 59,496 59,890
1984 51,271 53,351 65,513 66,896 79,346 90,492 85,718 82,481 80,425 51,143 51,048 51,207
1985 79,302 79,257 82,434 82,481 77,489 73,386 62,954 57,487 56,003 79,346 79,391 79,391
1986 55,940 56,828 64,379 67,674 74,313 74,695 68,065 62,327 63,963 55,462 55,359 55,769
1987 66,513 69,091 84,445 87,741 92,604 90,247 83,741 79,442 78,639 66,088 66,513 66,552
1988 77,233 79,800 83,413 83,507 81,064 71,777 63,219 55,666 53,417 77,756 77,364 77,233
1989 52,732 53,090 58,224 59,002 61,486 57,561 48,922 41,033 40,511 52,960 52,601 52,699
1990 40,667 46,103 50,132 51,435 53,385 48,492 40,458 32,950 31,510 40,071 40,096 40,380
1991 30,862 31,442 31,680 32,752 46,780 48,461 40,876 32,884 30,376 31,119 30,883 30,904
1992 30,059 30,249 30,692 30,482 27,035 25,701 25,001 19,619 18,990 29,786 30,038 30,017
1993 18,672 18,704 25,190 32,025 50,894 67,752 69,485 70,364 68,184 18,594 18,578 18,594
1994 69,761 81,064 102,593 103,840 105,409 101,411 94,389 87,011 85,432 68,184 68,302 68,933
1995 93,059 93,159 96,156 96,734 109,998 111,524 110,818 107,855 105,971 92,196 92,703 92,601
1996 108,488 119,212 147,732 149,183 153,369 151,650 146,976 144,126 141,694 107,109 107,740 108,026
1997 148,381 162,861 181,888 186,602 183,966 182,067 180,995 178,414 175,336 141,036 140,817 142,378
1998 173,421 175,772 183,061 180,995 178,769 179,210 181,712 181,620 178,323 173,595 172,560 173,075
1999 177,353 178,591 182,160 185,875 179,923 186,241 179,923 177,267 174,727 184,870 177,616 176,851
Historical Ave. Vol. (af) 100,681 104,218 111,906 114,299 117,472 116,865 111,133 104,751 102,263 100,472 99,894 100,044
Corresponding Area (acres) 5,303 5,544 5,785 5,785 6,026 6,026 5,785 5,544 5,303 5,303 5,303 5,303

Lewis Annual Evaporation (in.)43
Total Storage (acre-feet)634,639

Calculations:

Monthly Lewis Evap. (inches) 1.161 1.075 1.677 3.44 4.945 5.633 7.353 6.708 4.945 3.268 1.677 1.118
Monthly Precipitation (inches) 0.25 0.25 0.75 1.75 2.75 2.75 1.75 1.25 1.25 1.25 0.75 0.75
Net Evaporation (inches) 0.911 0.825 0.927 1.69 2.195 2.883 5.603 5.458 3.695 2.018 0.927 0.368 TOTAL

Total Net Evaporation (acre-feet) 403 381 447 815 1,102 1,448 2,701 2,522 1,633 892 410 163 12,915