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Ground Water Rights <br />Some stockholders rely on ground water pumping to supplement surface water sources. <br />Augmentation for the wells under the New Cache System is provided by a variety of sources. A <br />few of the wells are covered by the Central Colorado Water Conservancy Districts Groundwater <br />Management Subdistrict (Centrals) Augmentation Plan and the Poudre Augmentation Plan. The <br />New Cache Company has filed a new augmentation plan called the Lower Poudre Plan. A total <br />of 126 wells are covered under the proposed Lower Poudre Plan. Of the 126 wells, <br />approximately 70 percent are stock holders in the New Cache Company located within the New <br />Cache Company service area, the remaining 30 percent are located under the Larimer and Weld <br />System or are farmers under the New Cache System who do not have ownership in the New <br />Cache Company. Augmentation sources for the Lower Poudre Plan include leased return flows <br />from Water Supply and Storage Companies transbasin water, developed water in Graham Seep, <br />and 600 acres of dry-up supplied by native supply located at the site of the New Cache Company <br />future reservoirs. When completed, New Cache Company's new reservoirs will provide an <br />additional source of augmentation for the Lower Poudre Plan. <br />A 1987 study conducted by the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority of <br />the Cache la Poudre Basin estimated that the pumping of ground water in 1985 under the Greeley <br />No. 2 Ditch System totaled 32,450 acre-feet per year. Of the total groundwater pumping under <br />the Greeley No. 2 system, 11,750 acre-feet occurred inside the Cache la Poudre River Basin and <br />20,700 occurred outside the Basin. It is unclear, from the information provided in the referenced <br />report, how the decreed non-tributary Coffin area wells were included and if the pumping <br />reported as occurring outside the Basin included only the South Platte Basin or if Coffin area <br />wells were included in the area outside the Basin. <br />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 Greeley No. 2 Ditch headgate. <br />Approximately 5,000 units of C-BT water are owned by individual irrigators under the New <br />Cache System. The amount of C-BT water used in the New Cache System has dropped <br />significantly over time and continues to drop. At one point in time, approximately 15,000 units <br />of C-BT water were owned by stockholders in the New Cache System. <br />Administration <br />Administration of the water rights associated with the New Cache Company involves interaction <br />with the Water District 3 Water Commissioner and the Division 1 Engineer. <br />Storage rights in the Cache la Poudre basin are generally senior to the downstream storage rights <br />on the South Platte River and are therefore able to divert, in priority, with respect to other active <br />winter diversions. In normal years, calls from the South Platte do not affect administration in <br />Water District 3 as water rights during the irrigation season, the Cache la Poudre River are <br />generally senior to South Platte River water rights. <br />NewCacheMemo.doc 12 of 14 <br />