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Section 3 <br />Alternative Agricultural Water Transfer Methods to Traditional Purchase and Transfer <br />the land being fallowed each year would require <br />program participation of 125,000 to 333,000 acres. <br />As noted in previous sections, the areas that may <br />have a high probability for implementing a <br />successful rotational fallowing program would be <br />areas that are not facing urbanization or other <br />development pressures or acquisition by other water <br />providers. This amount of acreage in the South <br />Platte and Arkansas is located in the lower reaches <br />of each basin. Figure 3-6 shows the locations of <br />irrigated acreage in the South Platte by Water <br />District. The most likely geographic areas for a <br />rotational fallowing program in the South Platte <br />appear to be in Water Districts 1 and 64. Similarly, <br />the most likely geographic areas in the Arkansas <br />would be in the lower reaches of the Arkansas in <br />Water Districts 14,17 and 67, as shown in Figure 3-7. <br />To produce 100,000 AF of water supply <br />approximately 330,000 acres of irrigated land <br />would be needed to participate in a fallowing <br />program and about 66,000 acres would need to <br />be followed per year. <br />Significant infrastructure would be required to deliver <br />agricultural water from the lower South Platte or <br />lower Arkansas to the gap areas of the south metro <br />area or northern El Paso County. As identified in the <br />SWSI Report, there is very limited new exchange <br />potential that would allow this water to be diverted <br />upstream using existing infrastructure. This <br />infrastructure would be needed even if a traditional <br />agricultural transfer were to be implemented from the <br />same geographic areas. Table 3-13 provides <br />approximate distance, elevation difference from <br />potential rotational fallowing areas to the south metro <br />and El Paso County areas and the average total <br />dissolved solids in the South Platte and Arkansas <br />Rivers at the locations of the agricultural use. Total <br />As shown in Table 3-13, approximately 60 to <br />100 miles of pipeline would be required to convey <br />water from the agricultural areas to a centralized <br />location near two major gap areas. Pumping facilities <br />would also need to be constructed to lift the water <br />the 1,500 to 3,500 feet. The water quality in the <br />lower reaches of the South Platte and Arkansas are <br />impacted by the successive use of water in the basin <br />as shown by the TDS of 530 mg/L to 1,300 mg/L. <br />There is a secondary drinking water standard of <br />500 mg/L of TDS and the water supplies currently <br />used by south metro and El Paso County water <br />providers have TDS significantly below this level. <br />Advanced water treatment such as reverse osmosis <br />would be required to lower the TDS and treat other <br />pollutants present in the river to acceptable and <br />regulated levels. It is estimated that the capital <br />infrastructure costs to divert, pump, pipe, and treat <br />60,000 AFY would range from $900 million to <br />$1.2 billion. Annual O~SCM costs for pumping, <br />treatment, and water treatment waste stream <br />disposal would add tens of millions of dollars per <br />year. <br />The costs noted above do not include the water <br />rights acquisition costs if a traditional agricultural <br />transfer were to occur or the costs associated with a <br />rotational fallowing arrangement. <br />Table 3-13 Distance, Elevation and Total Dissolved Solids for Agricultural Transfer/Rotational Fallowing Alternatives for Major <br />FINAL DRAFT 3-35 <br />~uuu i r lout - vi ccicy ai ca w ~uuu i ivicu u ~ c i ,wv vw <br />South Platte - Ft.Morgan/Vlleldona area to South 97 1,800 1,000 <br />Metro <br />Arkansas -Avondale area to EI Paso County 68 3,200 530 <br />Arkansas - La Junta area to EI Paso Couniy 100 3,500 1,300 <br />