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Feasibility Study <br />Abbott Ranch <br />Irrigation Wells <br />Introduction <br />The Abbott Ranch is located in Elbert County, approximately 10 miles northeast of the <br />Town of Kiowa, Colorado. The ranch encompasses approximately 1,727 acres, of which <br />150 acres are irrigated farm ground and the remaining 1,577 acres are dry-land pasture. <br />Additionally, the ranch has an adjacEnt 320 acres State Lease that is utilized for cattle <br />grazmg. <br />For the past 34 years the ranch has utilized a single well to irrigate between 100 to 150 <br />acres. This well, however, over the past 10-years has slowly lost its ability to pump at a <br />sufficient rate to produce profitable hay. The pump rate of the well has dropped from <br />700 gallons per minute to its current rate of 250 gallons per minute. <br />The purpose of this report is to examine the feasibility of abandoning the existing well <br />and drilling a new replacement well. Additionally, this report will examine the <br />feasibility of drilling an additional supplemental well, to allow the ranch to maximize its <br />water rights and irrigation production. <br />Background <br />The Abbott Ranch has been owned and operated by the Abbott's since 1972. The ranch <br />has relied on two main revenue streams of cattle and hay sales to maintain and operate <br />the ranch. Current cattle operations consist of 100 head of Maine Anjou/Angus bred <br />cows that on average produce 100 calves annually. In a typical year, 75 of these calves <br />are sent to market and 25 selected heifers are placed back into the herd as replacement <br />heifers. Feed for the cattle is accomplished through open grazing on 1,577 acres of <br />deeded ranch land and 320 acres of State Lease land. Cattle feed is supplemented in the <br />winter months from hay produced on the 150 acres of irrigated farm ground. <br />The ranch irrigates two separate parcels of the ground with two center pivot systems. <br />Contained in Appendix A is an aerial map of the ranch illustrating the boundaries of the <br />ranch and the two sections of ground that are being irrigated. These two sections of <br />irrigated grounds are separated by Comanche Creek that runs south to north through the <br />ranch. The section of the ground east of the creek consists of 80 acres. This parcel of <br />ground falls toward the creek at approximately a 5% slope. The remaining 70 acre parcel <br />is located west of the creek and is basically flat river bottom ground. These two areas <br />are irrigated by a single well located on the 70 acre parcel (See Appendix B for irrigation <br />layout). <br />�oo Q�,`�' <br />Historically, the well �umped at a rate of 700 gallons per minute, which produced 6 <br />ton per acre of hay or -i;�6�tons of hay annually. Currently, the well is only pumping <br />250 gallons per minute, which produces only 2 tons per acre of hay or 300 tons annually. <br />� <br />