C150032 El Paso Water Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . " " . II :1 I, I annual basis through precipitation events and snowmelt runoff and" therefore, is considered to be a renewable water resource. , Throughout the County there are several major streams which flow over the Denver Basin, I Dakota/Cheyenne, and pre-Cambrian aquifers. Associated with these stream systems are alluvial deposits that carry significant volumes of water which are currentlYil1 being used by County water providers. Some of the principal alluvial aquifer systems are associated with Fountain Creek, Monument Creek, Sand Creek, Upper Black Squirrel Cre,ek, and Jimmy C~~~. ! I I , I The most reliable ground water resource in the County is associated with the ~lluvial aquifers. I Not only can wells completed in some of the primary alluvial aquifer systems (such as the I Fountain Creek alluvium) produce in excess of 1,000 gpm, but the wat~r supplies are renewable in nature, being replenished by the stream flow. i t I I I County Surface Water Resources : I The principal stream systems currently being used for irrigation and municip~l water supplies t are Fountain Creek, Monument Creek, Jimmy Camp Creek, Sand Creek, and Upper Black I Squirrel Creek. Generally, the surface waters in each of these stream systems is governed by I the Colorado Doctrine of Appropriation. In the Arkansas River Basin, there is additional I regulation under the Amended Arkansas River Rules. : I Under Colorado's priority system, an analysis of water rights within the Arkaljlsas River Basin indicates that a priority date of 1874, or earlier, essentially will be in priorit~ all of the time, while water rights with priority dates of 1890 or earlier will only be available for use 50 I percent of the time, or less. Therefore, water rights that are more junior to an 1890 priority I likely will only be available during wet years, or extremely wet periods of time. I I , t Since most of these early water rights (pre-1890) were originally related to ~rrigation use, a change of water right is necessary to convert these rights for potential us;e for municipal purposes. While many irrigation water rights have already been converted t6 municipal use, I such as shares in the Fountain Mutual Irrigation Company, there are still manY, irrigation water I rights in the County which potentially could be converted to municipal use. : I I I I I I I I I , I E-2