25d ‎(2)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 11/18/2007
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project and former irrigation rights from the Fountain Mutual Ditch.
The communities, possibly along with Fountain, are considering a large recharge program that would add
approximately 2,000 acre-feet of water, using available flows on Fountain Creek. Engineering studies
must verify how the water is used, Thompson said.
In the Rio Grande basin, agreements that were reached more than 35 years ago proved inadequate to deal
with a drought that exposed the weakness of the system, said Steve Vandiver, general manager of the Rio
Grande Conservation District.
There are 600,000 acres of irrigated farmland growing potatoes, grain and hay in the basin, mostly
irrigated by sprinklers from wells that were drilled starting in the 1940s.
As the sprinkler systems replace canal water, a large portion of the surface water was used to recharge the
unconfined aquifer, a shallow system connected to the river, and careful records were kept.
"We do have restrictions under the Rio Grande Compact about how much water may be pumped,"
Vandiver said. "We are bound very tightly about the amount of water we may use in the basin."
The conservation district has tracked its groundwater reserves since the 1970s, completely filling it in the
1980s. But during droughts that began in 2000, farmers lost 1 million acre-feet.
"The sustainability of the aquifer became a question and there was recognition of the need to do
something," Vandiver said. "The drought exposed a problem that developed over time."
The valley now has a plan to create sub districts, providing an economic incentive through fees paid
according to the amount of irrigated acreage. The money will create a fund to pay farmers to fallow
ground and the water saved in irrigation will be used to refill the aquifer.
Vandiver said there will soon be court action on the plan.
In the lower South Platte, the northeastern corner of the state, farmers are using groundwater recharge to
allow pumping to continue later in the season while still keep water in the river to meet interstate compact
obligations to Nebraska, said Joe Frank, general manager of the Lower South Platte Conservancy District.
Farmers have been using recharge ponds since 1972, as well as simply storing the water in ponds during
winter months, when compact rules don't apply, and pumping it back into the river later in the season.
"Keep in mind, any time you have depletions greater than recharge, you have to replace it with something
else," Frank said.
Finally, Highlands Ranch, a booming suburb southwest of Denver, is recharging the Denver Basin
Aquifer, said Jolm Hendrick, manager of Centennial Water District.
Centennial feeds its customers directly from its rights in the Denver Basin, a series of four aquifers that is
operated under special rules since it does not connect to any of the state's river systems. The district also
has two reservoirs to store surface water, which is injected into the Denver Basin essentially by running
pumps m reverse.
"Where do you get the surface water`? That's the big challenge," Hendrick said.
Flood Protection • Water Project Planning and Finance • Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection • Conservation Plarming