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Capacity: The Lower Latham Ditch has a capacity of 280 cfs and the Lower Latham Outlet has <br />a capacity of 100 cfs. The Lower Latham Drain has a capacity of approximately 35 cfs. <br />Conveyance Efficiency: The Lower Latham Ditch Company estimates that the conveyance <br />efficiency for the Lower Latham Ditch System and nearby ditches is 88 percent-90 <br />percent. <br />Irrigated Acreage and Crop Type: The State Engineer Office identifies the system as serving <br />16,500 irrigated acres. In the late 1980's to early 1990's the Soil Conservation Service <br />estimated the irrigated acreage as 10,000 acres, including 500 acres from National Hog <br />Farm, which has since gone out of business and allowed its fields to dry up. Current <br />irrigated acreage estimates from the Lower Latham Ditch Company are between 8,700- <br />8,750 acres. Preliminary SPDSS estimates of land irrigated by Lower Latham Ditch are <br />10,730 acres. <br />The Lower Latham Ditch Company estimates that, currently, the two primary crops that <br />are irrigated with Lower Latham water are corn (about 50 percent of the fields) and <br />Alfalfa (about 40 percent of the fields). There is also a small degree of sugar beet, wheat, <br />and grass production that accounts for the remaining 10 percent of irrigated land. <br />Ground Water Use: Ground water is not widely used for irrigation on land under the Lower <br />Latham system. The Lower Latham Ditch Company estimates that water is applied to 15 <br />percent of the irrigated land by sprinkler systems and only a few of these systems pump <br />from wells. <br />The Lower Latham Ditch Company estimates that there are approximately 100 wells in <br />the area. Ground water wells used for irrigation purposes within the Lower Latham Ditch <br />and Reservoir System have historically been operated under GASP. Companies are <br />currently developing an independent augmentation plan using ground water supplies and <br />direct flows from Highland Ditch. <br />Return Flows: Return flows follow the general topography and return to the South Plate River. <br />Measurement Device: Water passing through Lower Latham Ditch is measured using a 15' <br />Parshall/Stevens flume, located where the ditch passes under Route 85. There is no <br />measuring device on the Lower Latham Outlet. There is no measuring device on the <br />Lower Latham Drain. <br />HydroBase Data: Monthly data are available in HydroBase for the 1950-2002 period of record. <br />Data pertaining to the Lower Latham Ditch include total river diversions for months <br />April -October (see Figure 2). The historic diversion average is 39,000 ac-ft/yr. The <br />maximum diversion on record through the Lower Latham Ditch is 290 cfs on July 1st <br />1986. There are no records for the Lower Latham Outlet. There are no daily diversion <br />records for the Lower Latham Drain. However, a monthly maximum diversion of 2,189 <br />ac-ft was recorded in June of 1997. This averages out to about 36.9 cfs over the month. <br />Lower Latham Ditch Memo.doc 8 of 12 <br />