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<br />WAi'D MAWIl~.AJlID COlfSEBV'AfiOll <br />Ge~ral <br /> <br />As is the case in most irr:l.gated areas, there are opportUDi-ties <br />in the San :wis Valley for increased efficiency in irrigation practices. <br />fwo :po1(eatialities for 1mprovement~ o:t: water management have 'been suggested <br />by the lloard. of Directors of the San Luis Valley Water Conservaacy Distr:l.ct <br />~d 'Were made a, part of a contxact between the Bureau and theD1str:l.ct which <br />provided for the accompJ.:1shmellt of va.ter salvage studies by the Bureau with <br />the Distr:l.ct participating financd..lly. These })Otentialities involved the <br />determiution ,of causeam.d effeet of rapid groU1'l.d water movement in the <br />farming area northwest of~teVista and poss.ible 1'E!JD.edies therefor, and <br />the pOSSible use of deep artesian wells to' furn.ish a supplement8.l water <br />supply for lands presently .irr:l.gated by va.ters diverted from the Ilio <br />Grande . <br /> <br />Areas of Rapid Ground Water Movement <br /> <br />Ge~ral <br /> <br />The areas of rapid ground,va.ter lIlOVemeJrl; were 'brought ~lll the <br />attentiOIl of the lloard. of Directors of the Ball. Luis Valley Water' COIl- <br />servancy Distr:l.ct by Messrs. Orville and Earl.Jll'8.ke, whose farms are <br />located in the geaeraJ. area west of U.S. Highway 285, 6,to 6 miles north <br />of Moate Vista. ~ f&J:ll1ers 1D. this geural area find that in. order to <br />achieve optimum crop product.iOIll they _st practice SU'llirrigatiOIl, as the <br />solls in the area are coarse and have a law lIIOisture hold:1Dg capacity. <br /> <br />Idu.tification of Arlta <br /> <br />Local resideats aad project personnel have, through long e.xper:l.- <br />emce, become familiar with areas of rapid ground va.termavement i1'1 the <br />Closed llasin. !lIl order to IIIOre a.ccurately identifY those areas, reference <br />was _de to a map of part of the San Luis Valley shawing Water 'fabl.e Con- <br />, tours in 1948-49, which appears in U.S.G.S. Water Sup.ply Paper Bo. 1379, <br />"Ground Water :Resources of the San Luis Valley, Colorado." ~e water ta'llle <br />contours connect po1D.ts of etual. elevation 011 the va.ter surface and shaw the <br />confiiuratioD. of the water table. The directioa of the ground vater moTa- <br />meat is &lnys perpendicular to the contours or in the direction of the <br />~rd. slope. ~e spacing of the contours indicates the steepass of the <br />slope, and thus the rapidity of groU1ild. vater movement in the highly,,:per- <br />meable materials found in the area. An _-.lil'18tion of the water table map <br />iD.dicates that the. IIIOvement of ground water ill the Ilio Grande Service Area <br />is :probably most rapid in the area north of the Ilio Grande a.ad v+thill the <br />MoJrl;e Vista-llel1iorte-CeJrl;er triiUlgle., This portiOJl of the map is shawn <br />on Fi~ 8. ~e area is well, up on the Ilio Gral1.de ".fan" and tTA.1''''llissi- <br />bi11ty of the lIballaw ground vater aquifer is no doubt high. ~e Slope <br />of the water table averages 15 to 16 feet per mile 1D. an easterly direction. <br />Early CI.aY.:',:fanners in the area reeognized the effects, probably without <br />rea11ziDgtl1e reason& for, or the extot of, the gl"oU1'l.d water movement. <br />Indeed this movement, 'being largely uncoll.trollable, was of such m_gJ'ituje <br /> <br />Rev. 10-29-64 <br /> <br />44 <br /> <br />~ . <br />~,-" -.. <br /> <br />r' <*, ~: <br />JOV <br />