Laserfiche WebLink
PHYSICAL INFORMATION <br />Operationally, the Company does not need a minimum flow amount at the river in order to <br />divert; rather the Company will divert any amount available in priority. The inlet canal has two <br />wasteways where the Company can convey water back to the South Platte River upstream of the <br />reservoir. One wasteway is located approximately 1.3 miles downstream of the diversion and is <br />used to regulate the collection of water from Jackson Day Seep. If the Jackson Day Seep water <br />right is not in priority, the seepage water will be dumped back to the river. The other wasteway, <br />located approximately 2.6 miles downstream from the diversion, is used in maintenance or <br />emergency situations only. <br />Jackson Lake Outlet, a two mile canal that runs due south from the reservoir with a capacity of <br />400 cfs, does not deliver water directly for irrigation. Water released from the reservoir is <br />generally conveyed under the Weldon Valley Ditch and carried directly to the South Platte River <br />for exchange with upstream ditches or delivery to downstream ditches. The outlet canal is <br />measured using a 20 foot weir equipped with a clock recorder and satellite connections located <br />approximately one mile south of the reservoir. The Water Commissioner is responsible for <br />collecting the records from this device. <br />The Company manages its water such that no minimum amount needs to be requested by users <br />before releasing water from the reservoir. However, if a single user requests the first release of <br />the year, the user's storage account can be charged additional losses caused by seepage from the <br />reservoir gates. Releases are generally made when a group of users request water and the <br />Company can achieve more efficient delivery. <br />The first requests for storage releases occur in mid May and end near the middle of September. <br />The Company is only responsible for the releases to the river, with each user responsible for <br />diverting the amount, less losses, at their respective headgate. Shareholders must contact the <br />Company to request water in advance. The amount of time in advance the user must request <br />depends on the distance to the shareholder's headgate, but typically ranges from one to two days. <br />Operationally, two shareholder headgates are located upstream of the Jackson Lake Outlet (Bijou <br />Canal and Riverside Canal) and four shareholder headgates located downstream (Fort Morgan <br />Canal, Upper Platte and Beaver Canal, Lower Platte and Beaver Canal and Deuel & Snyder <br />Ditch). With downstream shareholders, the reservoir release and subsequent diversion of the <br />actual storage water occurs at the shareholder's downstream headgate. In the instance of the <br />upstream shareholders, an exchange is performed, whereby the upstream shareholders will divert <br />water that is replaced at the same time and quantity by a reservoir release. The exchange is <br />allowed in the system because no user between the exchange reach is injured. Transit losses are <br />still applicable to the upstream shareholder, although advance request time is altered. <br />Water entitlement under the Company is based on the number of Company shares owned. Initial <br />water allotments for the stockholders are determined each year, although the allotments can <br />increase or decrease throughout the summer. Typically, the initial allotment is conservative. The <br />allotments made by the Company do not include transit losses, which are assessed by the state as <br />one half percent per mile. The Company shareowner is assessed the transit loss after the water <br />Jackson Lake Reservoir System Page 4 of 14 <br />