PROJ02181

• Contract/PO #: FS0014X
• Contractor Name: Southern High Plains Ground Water Management DistrictSouthern High Plains Ground Water Management Di
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 0
• County: Baca
• County: Prowers
• County: Las Animas
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Report

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2. Develop diagrams and figures depicting the historic water level declines in
the aquifers that have occurred since the Beck Report was completed in
1967.
3. Quantify water use trends in the District.
4. Assess affects of management decisions as they may impact future water
level changes.

2.2 BACKGROUND
In 1967, the Colorado Ground Water Commission, under the authority of the Colorado
Ground Water Management Act, Chapter 148-18, awarded a contract to R.W. Beckand
Associates (Beck) to study and prepare a report regarding the ground-water resources
of those portions of P rowers , Baca and Las Animas Counties which lie outside of the
Arkansas River Basin (see Map 1). As described in Beck's report "Ground Water
Resources Study Relating to Portions of Prowers, Baca and Las Animas Counties,
Colorado", Beck analyzed available data and developed an overview of the geography,
geology, hydrology, and the economics of the area. Beck identified three significant
aquifers in the study area covered by the report: the Ogallala Formation, Dakota
Sandstone and Cheyenne Sandstone. In the fall of 1967, based in part upon this report,
the Colorado Ground Water Commission created the Southern High Plains Designated
Ground Water Basin (Basin). Shortly thereafter, the District was formed to manage the
pumping of ground water from these aquifers in the Basin.

In 1999, the District was awarded a grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board
(CWCB) to conduct a feasibility study to assess the "current" condition of the ground-
water resources within the District and to compare those findings with the 1967 Beck
Report. McLaughlin Water Engineers, Ltd., (MWE) was contracted by the District to
complete the feasibility stupy and to prepare a report of the findings. The report, entitled
"Feasibility Report for Water Resources Investigation for the Southern High Plans
Ground Water Management District", was published in January, 2000. Major objectives
of the feasibility study were to:

1. update the 1967 R.W. Beck and Associates Report with respect to the
number of wells and their location;
2. develop a water-level decline map for the source aquifers;
3. obtain data on the number of acres irrigated in the district and the historic
changes since 1967;
4. identify areas within the District where additional observation wells may be
needed; and
5. provide management options for consideration by the District Board.

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