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are willing to cooperate with their neighbors as long as the flow to their headgate <br />is not reduced. He urged the Task Force to consider in their deliberations any <br />impact on the junior surface right users su ch as Henrylyn. They are willing to <br />cooperate. He referred to the Gent leman’s agreement. The downstream <br />reservoirs are subject to the same seepage and evaporation losses as everyone <br />else and they should delay filling reservoirs to minimize losses by seepage and <br />evaporation losses. If they allow for flex ible administration, it will result in <br />someone receiving selectiv e benefit. Recommended to stay with the priority <br />system and not allow one group over another take advantage of the <br />administrative authority of t he State Engineer. He stat ed that storage is the <br />answer; storage in the Lost Creek basin , recharge in the Box Elder and Bebee <br />Draw. Concluded by saying that you cannot make water all tributary water; <br />adequate storage is imperative; priority systems provide certainty to invest and <br />allocate the precious resource; and a c onservation effort is to take water <br />available in high flows and make it available in low flows. <br />John Monheiser <br /> - Harmony Ditch Company, has 26 shareholders and covers <br />2,300 acres, all surface water rights. They have a 1895 right and a 1965 well <br />can pump from the river and take their wate r. The solution is in the priority <br />system. <br />Robert Longenbaugh - <br /> Has 47 years of ground water experience. The impact <br />of well pumping on surface water rights has been with us for over 40 years. He <br />referenced Circular 28, Bittinger’s repor t, and Rule 6 of the compact. The <br />drought of 2001-02 showed him the importance of pumping. The South Platte <br />River aquifer was still full in 2002 and 2003 and urged the Task Force to figure <br />out how to draw ground water to maximize the needs of the citizens of the state <br />of Colorado. His studies show that those declines due to pumping do not carry <br />over from year to year because it is dominated by surface diversions. <br />Infrastructure changes have reduced return flows: lining of canals and pipelines <br />decreases seepage losses; capture of sewage effluent from transmountain <br />diversions; increase in phreatophyte consumptive use; endangered species <br />requires more water to be delivered downstream; improved farm irrigation <br />efficiencies have reduced deep percolation. His recommendation is flexibility of <br />water administration and return to no calls on the river, manage total resource. <br />Mr. Longenbaugh provided handout s to the Task Force. <br />Ken Bollers - <br /> Farmer and president of Henrylyn Dis trict. He stated that Henrylyn <br />District has 300 owners and they pay $600 per year in assessments. Storage <br />rights are junior to several reservoirs in cluding the South Pla tte. Depletions are <br />not returned to the river, they are call ed out by senior rights. The Henrylyn <br />District paid $20 million in assessments to maintain and protect their water right, <br />they followed the rules of the priority system. The challenge for the panel is how <br />to help the wells without affecting the priority system and stop attacking <br />legitimate senior water rights. <br />- 4 - <br />