Laserfiche WebLink
Transbasin Water <br />The ditch company is within the boundaries of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy <br />District (NCWCD). C-BT water can be delivered directly to the Highland Ditch headgate. <br />Although the amount of transbasin water used under the system has dropped significantly in the <br />last thirty years, irrigators in the service area currently use about 9,400 C-BT units for irrigation <br />purposes. <br />Administration <br />Administration of the water rights associated with the Highland Ditch Company involves <br />interaction with the Water District 5 Water Commissioner and the Division 1 Engineer. The <br />Superintendent of the ditch company is more often in contact with these individuals during <br />periods of storage and during periods when direct flow calls have been placed downstream on <br />the St. Vrain River. <br />The St. Vrain storage rights are generally senior to the downstream storage rights on the South <br />Platte River and are therefore able to divert, in priority, with respect to other active St. Vrain <br />winter diversions. In normal years, calls from the South Platte do not affect administration in <br />Water District 5. The Highland Ditch headgate is operated during the spring runoff, along with <br />other diversion structures to lengthen the storage season during average and below-average <br />years. The summer calls on the South Platte River do not generally affect Water District 5 as <br />water rights on the St. Vrain River are generally senior to South Platte River water rights. The <br />Highland Ditch direct flow water rights are relatively junior on the Big Thompson River, which <br />requires active management of ditch company storage in order to maintain water deliveries to <br />shareholders during the latter months of the irrigation season. <br />OPERATIONAL INFORMATION <br />The Highland Ditch system diverts, stores, and delivers water to shareholders. Direct flow <br />irrigation diversions are supplemented by releases from four storage units under the ditch and <br />three reservoirs located off of the ditch system. <br />Although there is a great amount of variability in the delivery of water to shareholders within any <br />irrigation ditch system, the order of operations for the Highland Ditch Company's water <br />resources generally follow the pattern enumerated below and described in more detail, following: <br />1) Direct Flow Rights, <br />2) On-ditch Reservoir Releases, <br />3) Exchange Reservoir Releases, and <br />4) Transbasin Water. <br />Winter <br />• The Ditch Company typically begins to fill Highland Reservoir No. 2 and then the other on- <br />ditch storage units by mid-January to mid-February, after the senior storage rights in the <br />basin have been satisfied. <br />Highland Ditch Operating Memorandum.doc 14 of 16 February 24, 2005 <br />