<br />28'11 . .
<br />:~E 'ORT MORGAN TIMES, SAfURDA.Y, AUGUSt I", 1952
<br />
<br />T Hj_fO~ 1.610 R~AtI_Jl~ E ~ __
<br />
<br />'0" . . ,
<br />
<br />~"~rro\V~) Dam Is Needed For .
<br />j ~~~~~!~ g~!~t~r~~~~xc~r~~~co~~l~ru
<br />. I cd In the COllstructlO~ of the Nar- the storage season and jf the stor-
<br />rows dam. has :=;ubmltted the {ol- age se;;son begins early in the fall I
<br />lowing .arti~!e on "Channel Stor- the present storage ca"pacity is of~
<br />age Needed. ten unable to utilize all the water
<br />Channel storage on the South available.
<br />~latte river in the area between 3900 Second Feet
<br />Ker.s~y and ~o.r~ .Morga~ p.res~nt~ Decreed inflow capacity or the
<br />I def~nlte possibilItIes to JUnior IfrI canals feeding the seven reservoirs
<br />gatlOn systems and the water us. is approximately 3900 second feet.
<br />ers. iierved by. those systems. The May and June runoff peaks at Ker-
<br />.prlmary f~nctIOn of these syst~ms sey gaging station often greatly ex-
<br />IS to furnish. water to ~ growIng ,:eed this figure and if demand for
<br />crop at the tIme best sUited to the direct irrigation is small at the
<br />need of the crop. The peak of this time, considerable amounts of
<br />demand occurs in July and Au- flood flow leave the state unused
<br />guS~, while the p.eak of river flows In this connection a peak flow at
<br />dUring the spring runoff from Kel's~y in the spring runoff period
<br />! the ml)llntains generally occurs in will range as high as 20,000 second
<br />.May or June. . feet. -
<br />'i:.'It is'. a ,com"mon experience .in At the present time storage capa-
<br />y~ar~ of heavy runoff for our If- city and the inflow rate for storage
<br />r..~atlOn systems to see large quan' capacity in this area are not ade-
<br />I h.tles at water flow by their diver. quate to fully utilize present his-
<br />slOn works and on out of the state torical flows. As these flows in-
<br />I unused in May and June, then have ere as.;! due to operation of the pro-
<br />crops suffer from lack of water in jects mentioned above the inade-
<br />. July and August. Our present sys- quacy of our present storage facili-
<br />I tem of lO<.'ClI reservoirs and irriga- ties will become 'more pronounced.
<br />I ti?n . wells has done its part in fur- From the standpoint of use, the
<br />nIshmg supplemental water thru present storage capacity in this
<br />the months of low river flow, but area is insufficient to provide the
<br />we are still wasting large quanti- supplemental water needed for the
<br />tics ?f .water that could be put to more intensive type of farming de-
<br />I ~eneflclal tJse.",:'~en greatl.y n~eded ....eloping under our irrigation sys-
<br />J If storage facllllles were avallablE' terns in the past 15 years.
<br />I for these flows. Conservation and correct distri-
<br />Need Recognized bution of all water supplies avail-
<br />Th~ need for cha~nel storage?n able.to this area -is a-matter of vital
<br />~he ,?outh .Platte nver, below.lts importance to the continuing devel-
<br />.jUD.ctIOn With the upstr.eam. tnb~- lopment of the South Platte valley, I
<br />: tanes, has been recogmzed 111 thiS and channel storage of surplus riv-
<br />(II: area for Q\.er 40 ~eal's as needed er flow is a practical and efficient
<br />'Ita conse~ve ~nd leg~late. surplus- method of water conservation.
<br />I es occunng In the hIstorIcal flow. S' P -'bl S't
<br />. to th~ end that these recurring IX 01S1 e I es
<br />surplus flows be put to beneficial Study and investigation of six I
<br />use instead of going out of the state possible sites for channel stor-
<br />unused. age, between Kersey and Fort Mor~
<br />With the Colorado Big Thompson gan, .carried on since 1947, by the
<br />project ncaring completion and the Bureau of Reclamation engineers
<br />,Blue River-South Platte project are summarized in a statement
<br />: proposed, the inevitable addition by. J. H: Knights, South Platte
<br />to historical flows definitely points District manager., published by
<br />.Iout the increasing need for this the State Water Conservation
<br />: type of storage. Board, foHowing three public meet-
<br />I The total capacity of the seven j ings in the area, and give the rea-
<br />I off-stream storag~ reser:voirs be- i sons for the final selection of the
<br />I tween Kersey gagIng statIOn ~t t.he I site at the Narrows. 1n the same
<br />. western boundary of Water DIstfJet report .R. J. Tipton, consultant
<br />\ One and tht: Nebraska State line engineer for the State Water Con.
<br />! is approximately 275,000 acre feet I servation Board states. "The plan
<br />I and the possibility for individual now proposed 'by the Bureau "is
<br />. enlargement of t\,,<isting. facilities ,I sound trom an eng~eering ap.
<br />: is sm.<ill. If return flow at Kersey is /1 proach, is. ~.~: b:...~t"location and
<br />
<br />-
<br />
<br />/'
<br />
<br />I ,the -~jt;";;le~t~d. Ti~t~~:~f~rth;;
<br />
<br />.analyzes the problem of storage
<br />in the South Platte basin as fol-
<br />lows: "The question often asked
<br />,is, - I'Why not store water up
<br />. stream in lieu of storing it in a
<br />i dam at the Narrows site?" This'
<br />is an excellent idea. Many studies
<br />.have been made in the past of the
<br />possibility of storing unused ilood
<br />flows in various potential reser-
<br />voir sites on the various tributar-
<br />ies of the South Platte. The last
<br />comprehensive study that was
<br />made of this possibility was a co-'
<br />operative one prosecuted by i:he
<br />Corps of Engineers, the state engi-
<br />neer and the .South Platte Water
<br />User's association in the early
<br />1930's. Many uiJStream reservoir
<br />sites were studied but their deve-
<br />loyment was .not economically feas-
<br />ible' at that time. Some of the deve-
<br />lopment .might 'be possible under
<br />'economic policies now practiced.
<br />I Even though all known upstream
<br />. I :reservoir sites were utilized. It
<br />would make little difference in the
<br />water available to Narrows. The
<br />
<br />unused flood water crossing the
<br />state line is very erratic in oc-
<br />curances. Large quantities will be
<br />in the stream for one year, or even
<br />I a two or three year period, and
<br />I then there will intervene a long'
<br />period of years such as 1931-40
<br />when very little unused water will
<br />I cross the state line. Therefore, a
<br />i large reservoir capacity is re-
<br />quired to equate the now unused
<br />supply over a perjod of years. It
<br />I is doubtful whther the total capa-
<br />'city of known potential upstream
<br />I reservoirs would result in any.
<br />significant equation of such Dood
<br />flows."
<br />Opinions Of Talent
<br />The conclusion of engineers op-
<br />inion expressed in (he report made
<br />by bureau engineers and Tipton.
<br />are the com posite opinions of our.
<br />best engineering talent and de-
<br />finitefy approve the Narrows site
<br />as the most feasible of the sites
<br />investigated between Kersey and
<br />Fort Morgan.
<br />The storage capacity of '~he Nar-
<br />rows reservoir has been deter-
<br />mined after careful study of
<br />, amounts available ror storage. The
<br />active usable capacity below the
<br />super storage pools is 648,000 acre
<br />feet. In 1942 studies show 810,000
<br />acre feet available for storage in
<br />Narrows. 1943 - 70,000, 1944 -
<br />80,000. 1945 - 20,000, 1946 - 30",
<br />000, 1947 - 290,000, 1948, - 160,'
<br />000, 1949 - 350,000.
<br />The storage of this surplus water:
<br />that now flows out of the state un-
<br />used, in the Narrows reservoir will'
<br />make available to irrigators a sup.'
<br />ply of supple.mental water at a fair
<br />I market value that will mean in:
<br />I many years the difference between!
<br />a shortage of water with its resul-,
<br />'tant crop damages or an adequate:
<br />:supply as needed.
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