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<br />----=------,.---- .". <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />-- <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />" <br />--, ) <br /> <br />..." <br /> <br />072,1 <br /> <br />DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEfI <br /> <br />The Arkansas River valley system modeled is alSO-mile (240-km) <br /> <br />reach from above Pueblo in southeastern Colorado to the Colorado-Kansas <br /> <br />State line. The system consists of the river, its tributaries, and 450 <br /> <br />square miles (1,200 km2) of alluvial aquifer in hydraulic ,connection <br /> <br />with the river. This valley, ~hich is one of the major agricultural <br /> <br />areas of Colorado, produces alfalfa, corn, barley, sorghum, sugar beets, <br /> <br />and truck crops. Because the mean annual precipitation ranges from 12 <br /> <br />to 14 inches (300 to 360 mm), irrigation is necessary to raise,these <br /> <br />crops. <br /> <br />Water for irrigation is obtained from 23 canals diverting from the <br /> <br />river and about 1,400 wells diverting from the ground-water system. The <br /> <br />mean annual flow of the Arkansas River at Pueblo is 514,000 acre-feet <br /> <br />8 3 <br />(6.3xlO m) and the mean annual flow of the tributaries between Pueblo <br /> <br />and the State line is about 320,000 acre-feet (3.9xl08 m3). Canals were <br /> <br />constructed as early as the 1860's to divert the Arkansas River water <br /> <br />for irrigation. <br /> <br />River systems and canals in Colorado are operated under the Doctrine <br /> <br />of Prior Appropriation. Under this doctrine, the right to use the water <br /> <br />belongs to whomever first puts the water to beneficial use. A list of <br /> <br />appropriation dates and the associateo right to divert a rate of flow is <br /> <br />maintained for each river system. This list determines how the available <br /> <br />water will be distributed among the various users. The first water right <br /> <br />-in the system that was modeled has an appropriation date of April 1861. <br /> <br />Because of the Doctrine of Prior Appropriation, a change in water use on <br /> <br />a canal affects upstream users as well as downstream users. <br /> <br />6 <br />