North Platte amended September 26 Minutes

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North Platte Basin Roundtable Meeting 9-26-06 North Platte Basin Roundtable Meeting Minutes 9-26-06 - Amended 7-9 pm, Parks District USFS Conference Room Submitted by CSU Extension Agent, Debbie Alpe Members Present John Rich Erin Light Mike Allnutt Jim Baller Debbie Alpe Buell Fuller Sandra Knox Ed Perkins Paula Belcher Dirk Ramsey Dina Bennett Kent Crowder Hal Hagen Rick Wyatt Tom Hackleman Ann Timberman Sue Petersmann John Rich moved to approve the North Platte Roundtable minutes of August 22, 2006 with corrections. Dirk Ramsey seconded the motion. Motion passed. United States Supreme Court Decree for the North Platte River Erin Light and Sue Petersmann from the Division of Water Resources, presented information related to the history and importance of the NOlih Platte River Decree. Information regarding the history of the decree was provided by fOflner DWR employee Eric Wagner in a written document titled "Thoughts on Nebraska V Wyoming" (attached). Present and future development of water in the North Platte River Basin is controlled by this decree. Key points to remember are: . Total water used for irrigation in Jackson County is limited to 145,000 acres. . Number of irrigated acres peaked at 134,467 in 1952. . Acres irrigated in 2005 were 115,375. . Water storage for irrigation during anyone irrigation season is limited to 17,000 acre- feet. We hit this limit in 2003 and had to release storage water. . Total water exports from the North Platte River in Colorado are limited to no more than 60,000 acre-feet during any lO-year period. Sue Petersmann described how estimates of irrigated acres are calculated. One of her predecessors, Neil Black developed the baseline data by estimating irrigated acres from aerial photos. Sue tries to ground check her estimates with field visits and discussions with local ranchers to improve accuracy. Even though the photos were taken in 1969-1970 and are now 36 years old, we are still using them to estimate annual irrigated acreage. The scale of the photos is 8 inches to 1 mile. Sue and co-worker Kaid Waldron recently spent 1.5 weeks comparing data with the South Platte hydrologists, who are updating the aerial photo database. While there is some question as to the accuracy of the South Platte photos, Sue seems to think they are close to the data she and Kaid have been recording. Regarding reservoir storage reading, they read 3 times each irrigation season: once when reserves are high, another at low point and then another at the end of the fall fills. 1