WSP11269

• File Number: 8142.100
• Description: Trinidad Project - Studies - Operation Studies
• State: CO
• Basin: Arkansas
• Water Division: 2
• Date: 1/1/1996
• Author: CWCB
• Title: Trinidad Background Info Notebook Part 5
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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1905

E. Water Right not Acquired

The operating principles identified certain district direct flOl' water rights
that were to be assigned to the District. The water represented by the rights
was to become a part of the water supply to serve the authorized project acreage
of 19,717 acres. The rights of eleven (11) ditches were included totaling 656
cubic feet per second. In return, the District was to provide a water supply
for project lands composed of the following acreage under individual ditches:

Baca
Chil i 1 i
E 1 Mora
Johns Flood
Model
South Si de
Victor Florez
Hoehne
Burns & Ducan
Lewelhing & McCormick
Salas

2,428 acres
114 acres
160 acres
1,854 acres
6,177 acres
6,359 acres
22 acres
1,742 acres
322 acres
378 acres
161 acres

19,717 acres

Not all of the original individual ditches have assigned their rights to the
Di stri ct. Three ditches; Salas, Burns & Ducan, and Vi ctor Florez have withhe 1 d
a portion or all of their rights from the project. Since the water available to
the project has been reduced by the amount of these water rights, the total
acreage irri9ated by project water needs to' be reduced accordingly. The amount
of reduction may be considered to be the same as the amount of land irrigated by
the withheld water; computed to be 278 acres (Table 13). This acreage is
based on the rat io of the amount of the water ri ght. That is, if the water
right were 6.0 cubic feet per second and withdrawal amount was 2.75 cubic feet
per second, then the acreage was reduced by 46 percent (2.75/6.00 = .46).

F. Headgate Diversions

In the 1961 Study the average annual consumpt i ve use for the 1925-57 study
period was computed by the Lowry-Johnson method and determined to be equal to
2.30 acre-feet per acre. Considering the average annual precipitation along
with farm 1 asses and canal and 1 atera 1 losses at 30 percent each, the average
annual headgate requirement was computed to be 3.10 acre-feet per acre or 61,200
acre-feet for the 19,717 acres. Since the project plan provided for including
the precipitation that falls on the project irrigated lands in the determination
of the headgate requirement the actual headgate requirement will vary from year
to year depending on the amount of precipitation.

Page 7 of the 1961 Study states "Under proper water administration, it is
assumed irrigation headgate diversions with Trinidad Reservoir in operation
would be limited at all times to ideal crop requirements in order to minimize
the prOject effect on downstream water users." Article IV-B-2 of the Operating
Principles states that "All water deliveries to the 19,717 acres of District
irrigable area will be limited during the irrigation season to the irrigation
requirements at the farm headgates as determined by the District."

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