SPDSS_Feasibility_20011001

• Title: SPDSS Feasibility Study
• Description: This report presents the results of an investigation to determine the feasibility of developing a decision support system for the South Platte and North Platte River basins in Colorado
• Decision Support - Doc Type: Study
• Date: 10/1/2001
• DSS: South Platte
• Basin: South Platte
• Contract/PO #: C153984A
• Bill Number: SB01-157, HB02-1152, SB03-110, HB04-1221, SB05-084, HB06-1313, SB07-122
• Prepared By: Brown and Caldwell, CDM, Leonard Rice Engineering, Riverside Technology inc

25 percent population increase in the Colorado Front Range urban corridor illustrates the growth
which necessitates better water resources planning.
The economy in the mountainous headwaters area of the South Platte River basin is based on
tourism and recreation, while the economy in the urbanized south-central region is related mostly
to manufacturing, service and trade industries, and government services. The economy of the
basin downstream from Denver is based primarily on agriculture and livestock production.
Agriculture is the predominant water use in the South Platte River basin. Approximately
2.0 million acre-feet per year of surface water are used for irrigation of approximately 1.1 million
acres (Colorado Division of Water Resources 1994 and 1998a). Average annual flow of the
South Platte River at Julesburg Colorado is approximately 394,000 acre-feet, thereby indicating
that South Platte River water is used and reused several times within Colorado before it leaves
the State (Colorado Water Conservation Board 2000).
1.2.2 North Platte River Basin
The North Platte River basin (see Figure 1-1) drains the north-central portion of Colorado and
consists of the North Platte River and two tributaries, the Laramie River and Sand Creek, which
originate in Colorado and join the North Platte River in Wyoming. The Michigan, Illinois and
Canadian Rivers, and Grizzly Creek are tributaries to the North Platte River in Colorado. This
basin is comprised of portions of Larimer and Jackson counties with the majority of the
population in Jackson County, which had a 1999 population of 1,810 (Colorado Department of
Local Affairs 2001).
Water use is controlled by U.S. Supreme Court decrees for the North Platte and Laramie Rivers.
The major water use in the North Platte River basin is for irrigation of approximately
120,900 acres of agricultural land (Colorado Division of Water Resources 1998b).
1.2.3 Hydrogeologic Conditions in the South Platte River Basin
The South Platte River basin groundwater system consists of multiple aquifers including the
South Platte alluvium, the Denver Basin system and several Designated Groundwater Basins.
A "Designated Groundwater Basin" means the area established by the Colorado Groundwater
Commission in accordance with Section 37-90-106 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. There are
seven Designated Groundwater Basins including Upper Crow Creek, Northern High Plains, Lost
Creek, Kiowa-Bijou, Upper Big Sandy, Upper Black Squirrel Creek and Southern High Plains.
Recharge for these basins comes from precipitation and seasonally from streams.
The alluvial aquifer along the South Platte River downstream from Denver and its tributaries can
vary in width from 1 to 10 miles and from 5 to 200 feet in thickness. An estimated 8.3 million
acre-feet of water is contained in the South Platte alluvium (Hurr et al. 1975). This aquifer is
recharged through precipitation, irrigation return flows, canal seepage, and seasonally from flows
p:data\gen\spdss\final report\chapter l.doc 1-4
October 31, 2001