C150032 El Paso Water Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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. 'I . . Executive Summary I , I The EI Paso County Water Authority (EPCWA) has prepared this Water Report to assist in I evaluating how water demands of the EPCW A members can be met to the year ,2020. I I Current annual water demands in EI Paso County (County) are estimated to b~ approximately I 89,600 acre-feet (ac-ft). These values include Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU):, which is not a memb' of EPCW A. The estimated current annual water demand, williout CSU, is I approximately 19,600 ac-ft. The future water demand for year 2020 is estimate~ to be 163,300 ac-ft with CSU and approximately 30,000 without CSU. Therefore., this Water I Report looks at I not only continuing to provide the current water demands of approximately fO,OOO ac-ft per year (ac-ft/yr), but also expand that water supply to provide up to 30,000 ac-~/yr by the year I 2020. I I I I County Ground Water Resources : I Ground water provides much of the municipal water supplies in the CountY. Some of the I County's water supplies are non-renewable in nature, while others are replenisned annually. I I In the northern portion of the County, the principal aquifer resources are ~he sedimentary I bedrock aquifers of the Denver Basin. These water supply resources are non-renewable in I nature, as they receive only minimal recharge to replace the water which is: currently being I pumped out of these aquifer systems. In the Denver Basin aquifers underlying the County, I there is approximately 66,000,000 ac-ft of potentially recoverable water. By ~tate statute, this would make approximately 667,000 ac-ft of water available annually. Hoirever, with the I County's 300-Year Rule, the total annual volume of water available may be limited to a value of less than 667,000 ac-ft/yr. Yields from Denver Basin aquifer wells gene~ally range from approximately 50 gallons per minute (gpm) to 500 gpm. ! I I I I In the southern portion of the County, south of where the Denver Basin aquifers either subcrop I or outcrop, the principal bedrock ground water resources are found in the I:'ierre Shale and I Dakota/Cheyenne aquifers. The aquifers are generally low-yielding (15 gpm :or less), but do t receive some recharge on an annual basis and are considered renewable water resources. I I I Along the western edge of the County, in the foothills of the Rocky MountaiPs, the principal bedrock ground water resources are found in the pre-Cambrian granitic rocks. This water resource is also fairly limited in terms of yield per well (1 to 20 gpm), but is Irecharged on an I E-l