BOARD00031 ‎(2)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 9/20/2006
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Southeastern WCD Receives 33 Applications for Former Ag Water: Dividing transmountain waters
that once served dried-up agricultural lands in the Arkansas VaHey is likely to be a complicated process
for the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District.

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The Southeastern District has received 33 separate applications from 31 entities seeking water that once
provided supplemental irrigation to 16,649 acres of land on farms along the Colorado Canal in Crowley
County, which had been purchased by Aurora in the 1980s.

Colorado Springs land in Crowley County was purchased at the same time from the Foxley Land and
Cattle Co., so was not eligible for Fryingpan-Arkansas water.

The Southeastern allocation committee considered the requests on Sept. 12. The deadline for requests has
passed and no new requests will be accepted.

The water is being rea\1ocated under 1979 principles, which give 51 percent of Fryingpan-Arkansas water
brought into the valley from the Western Slope to cities and 49 percent to farm irrigation. The principles
allow for aHocations of dried-up farmlands to be transferred to non-agricultural uses.

An estimated 1,880 acre-feet annually on average would be available. Requests were made on an acre-
foot basis, although the allocation would be about 3.6 percent of available water, 52,000 acre-feet a year
on average.

Several of the applications support the suggestion of committee Chairman Carl McClure of Crowley
County to put all or most of the allocation into the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a part of the original 1962
Fry-Ark Project never built because of the expense. McClure made several motions at Southeastern's
meeting in May to dedicate the water to the conduit, but other board members wanted others to have a
chance to apply.

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The Southeastern's conduit advisory committee requested 1,800 acre-feet for conduit use, and received
support from Las Animas and Bent County, which made separate requests as well. The Lower Arkansas
Valley Water Conservancy District, which serves the five counties that would benefit from the conduit,
also issued a letter of support this week for the conduit.

The conduit is not the only consideration for communities in the lower va\1ey, however.

The Colorado Water Protective and Development Association, which augments wells for municipal and
agricultural use, requested all of the water for its nonagricultural purposes. Crowley County
commissioners asked for 1,600 acre-feet annuaHy.

Meanwhile, numerous other conduit participants have made separate requests for smaller parts of the
reallocated water, ranging from 20 to 200 acre-feet. Cities east of Pueblo now are entitled to 12 percent of
allocations.

There is also interest from other areas of the vaHey as well, including Colorado Springs, Fountain,
Manitou Springs, Pueblo West, the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, Penrose Water District,
Park Center Water District, and Beaver Park Water, as well as the Department of Corrections and State
Parks.

All Counties in Kansas Under Drought Warning: Despite locally heavy rainfall and cooler
temperatures, drought conditions persist throughout Kansas, which led Governor Kathleen Sebelius on
August 21 to upgrade the drought status of 25 counties in northeast and east central Kansas from watch to
warnmg.

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