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Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant and Loan Program <br />Water Activity Summary Sheet <br />Applicant: The Nature Conservancy of Colorado (TNC) <br />Water Activity Name: Arickaree River Well Retirement Program <br />Amount Requested: $99,920. <br />Source of Funds: $19,984 (South Platte Basin Account) and $79,936 (Statewide Account) <br />Matching Funds: $471,920 (USDA-CREP $365,400 and USDA-EQIP $31,200) <br />(RRWCD-CREP$31,320 and RRWCD-EQIP$44,000) <br />Water Activity Purpose: Non-structural water activity that will provide incentives to aid in Republican <br />River Compact compliance while providing ecological benefits to key habitat for rare species. <br />County: All of Yuma and Phillips counties plus portions of Sedgwick, Logan, Washington, Lincoln and Kit <br />Carson counties. <br />Drainage Basin: Republican River Basin - Arickaree Tributary <br />Water Source: Groundwater <br />Staff Recommendation <br />Staff recommends approval of $19,984 from the South Platte Basin Account and $79,936 from the Statewide <br />Account to support well retirement efforts in the Republican River Basin for compact compliance purposes <br />while also providing ecological benefits for key habitat for rare species. <br />Water Activity Summary: <br />TNC is working with the Republican River Water Conservation District (RRWCD) to retire 3 active <br />irrigation wells near the Arickaree River in Yuma County. TNC is also assessing the value of retiring 2 <br />permitted but inactive irrigation wells in the immediate vicinity and near the river as part of this effort. The <br />assessment is estimated to cost $5,000. CSU researchers have determined that these five wells are part of a <br />group of wells that if permanently retired would provide significant flow benefits to the 16 mile "live" reach <br />of the Arickaree River. The targeted wells in this proposal are located upstream of the "live" reach. The <br />TNC-Fox Ranch property protects approximately 7.75 miles of the "live" reach. The "live" reach supports <br />perhaps the best remaining population of brassy minnow in Colorado along with a number of native plains <br />fish, including the plains minnow, orange throated darter, and red shiner. <br />The targeted wells also lie upstream of the proposed curtailment zones for compact compliance. Well <br />retirements upstream of the curtailment zones will supplement flows in the river overall, thus increasing the <br />contribution of the Arickaree towards Colorado's compact obligations and should help reduce any <br />curtailments that may be required. <br />Threshold and Evaluation Criteria <br />(1) The proposed project is a non-structural water activity that will provide incentives to help retire 3 active <br />irrigation wells and analyze the potential need to retire 2 permitted but inactive irrigation wells for <br />compact compliance purposes. The proposed project will also provide important environmental benefits.