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1\>"," ~r\] '~.' " .'. v ,_ . season. It was not until the end of five years of operation that the cyclic pattern of pumping and recharge resulted in a slgnificant net accretlon (augmentation of streamflow) to the South Platte River during the irrigation season. 2.1.4 Tamarack Recharge Experiment An artificial recharge experiment was conducted during the winter of 1979-1980 at a site about 10 miles west of the Tamarack wildlife area (7). Water was pumped at a rate of 1,270 gallons per minute for 13 days, and was piped into a depression in the sandhills 3,000 feet away. A pond formed, and the water level rose for the first five days of pumping. Thereafter, the water level fell until 18 hours after the pumping stopped, at which time the pond was dry. This study indicated that artificial recharge in the South Platte Basin can be extremely efficient. In areas such as the sandhills that border the alluvial aquifer, infiltration rates are high. Evaporation is reduced and ground water storage is increased at a more rapid rate under these conditions. 2.1.5. Proposed Badger-Beaver Creeks Recharge Project The Badger and Beaver Water Conservancy Distrlct was formed in 1976 to promote an artificial recharge project. The preliminary proposal was to divert about 43,000 acre feet per year from the South Platte River through' Bijou Canal to these two creeks to recharge the groundwater system. The proposed purpose was to restore groundwater levels in the alluvium adjacent to these streams rather than for augmentation of streamflow. Beaver-Badger Creeks are two small tributaries to the South Platte River and are located just south of the city of Fort Morgan. These creeks are ,-'I 11 normally dry except during floods. Groundwater pumping has been extensive ~L