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<br />Project Service Area <br /> <br />The service area is located primarily in Morgan County, from <br />about 18 miles West of Fort Morgan to about 18 miles East of Fort <br />Morgan on the North side of the South Platte River. RID water is <br />tied to 22,494 specific irrigated lands of the district. These <br />acres are controlled by 147 different farm operations. The water <br />is typically used to irrigate corn, alfalfa, beans, and sugar <br />beets. <br /> <br />The Riverside system utilizes two reservoirs, as mentioned above, <br />to provide storage water. Riverside Reservoir is not located in <br />the district but is adjacent to the district in Weld County. <br />Vancil Reservoir is the smaller reservoir located towards the end <br />of the system in Eastern Morgan County and within the district. A <br />map showing the two reservoirs and the general district <br />boundaries is found in Appendix B. <br /> <br />Need for the Project <br /> <br />For over twenty years RID has been able to acquire control of <br />additional rights of Riverside Reservoir from the Groundwater <br />Appropriators of the South Platte River Basin (GASP). A trade <br />agreement between RID and GASP allowed RID to use the GASP owned <br />reservoir rights for irrigation use within the RID system and in <br />exchange GASP was allowed to use excess RID recharge credits. <br />This arrangement continued to work well for both parties until <br />2004 when GASP no longer needed the recharge credits for their <br />temporary augmentation plan. In 2005 GASP announced that they <br />were dissolving as a corporation and that all of their assets <br />would be sold off including the Riverside water. <br /> <br />RID is dependent upon the continued use of the GASP Riverside <br />water as a supplemental source under their control. The GASP <br />water has given them flexibility within their district and has <br />been used to reduce pumping of some of the alluvial wells in the <br />district. RID wants to retain control of as many of the GASP <br />Riverside rights as possible so that their system can maintain <br />the balance of the last twenty years. <br /> <br />Feasibility Study <br />RID Water Rights Project <br />February 2006 <br /> <br />2 <br />