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• Ground Water Inflows <br />Ground water inflows to the South Platte River basin from the High Plains area were pulled <br />directly from the Bittinger et al. study. <br />Ou bows <br />• Agricultural Consumptive Use <br />The supply-limited agricultural CU in the South Platte River water budget had an average CU <br />rate of 1.75 acre-feet per acre, which is within the range of values listed in the studies reviewed <br />(1.15 acre-feet per acre - 1.97 acre-feet per acre). <br />The agricultural CU in the North Platte River and Laramie River water budgets had a CU rate of <br />1.10 acre-feet per acre, which is significantly less than the value calculated from the USGS 1995 <br />Jackson County water use data (1.81 acre-feet per acre). The lower agricultural CU value is <br />considered appropriate due to the short growing season in the northern basins. <br />• Municipal, Commercial, and Industrial Consumptive Use <br />The M&I CU for the South Platte River water budget (330 kaf/yr) are higher than the recent <br />USGS data (186 kaf/yr), with the differences likely due to different base population, per capita <br />water use, and CU rate estimates. <br />• Livestock Consumptive Use <br />Livestock CU for the water budgets are similar to the data identified in the studies reviewed. <br />• Reservoir Evaporation <br />Reservoir evaporation for the water budgets are similar to the data identified in the studies <br />reviewed. <br />• Native Vegetation Consumptive Use <br />The native vegetation CU is estimated based on the other water budget inputs. The native <br />vegetation CU includes consumptive use by phreatophytic species, non-irrigated lands, <br />grasslands, etcetera, sublimation of winter precipitation, plus the error associated with the water <br />budget inputs. The native vegetation CU estimates in the initial water budget runs are of <br />significant magnitude (e.g., 15,737 kaf/yr in South Platte River basin). These estimates are <br />discussed in the context of the underlying land uses and other water budget components below: <br />South Platte River basin <br />1) The total basin area is approximately 13.1 million acres, of which approximately 1 million <br />acres have been identified as irrigated agriculture and approximately 100,000 acres identified <br />as free water surface area. Consumptive use from agricultural lands and lakes are addressed <br />in other components of the water budgets. Therefore, the native vegetation CU of <br />approximately 15,737 million acre-feet attributable to the remaining approximately 11 <br />million acres in the basin equates to about 1.4 feet (17 inches) of native vegetation CU per <br />acre. <br />2) This native vegetation CU area is comprised of forests, phreatophyte species and wetlands, <br />and non-irrigated agricultural land including grasslands, and other non-productive areas <br />outside of the other land use types. <br />Task83 final.doc 8 of 15 Apri17, 2005 <br />