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Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant Application Form <br />Fonn Revised May 2007 <br />4. Please provide an overview of the water project or activity to be fiuided including - t}pe of activity, statement of <br />what the activity is intended to accomplish, the need for the activity, the problems and opportunities to be addressed, <br />expectations of the participants, ivhy the activity is important, the service area or geographic location, and any relevant <br />issues etc. Please include any relevant TABOR issues that may affect the Contracting Entity. Please refer to Part 2 of <br />Criteria and Guidance document for additional detail on information to include. <br />Project Background <br />The Nature Conservancy (TN(-) is working with the Repuublican River Water Conservation District to <br />retire three (3) active wells near the Arickaree River in Yuma County, CO. It is also working to assess the vahae <br />of retiring valid existing permits for two (2) additional inactive wells near the Arickaree River in order to <br />determine if the possibility of re-operating these wells exists and what it would cost to permanently retire these <br />permits. <br />Retirement of the wells in question would assist CO to comply with the Republican River Compact and <br />the Compact Settlement by supplementing flows in the Arickaree. The retirement of the two additional permits, if' <br />determined to be worthwhile, would protect gains made through the retirement of active wells. The retirements <br />of the wells and permits would also provide and protect significant environmental benefits. <br />Each of the wells in question is located outside of the curtailment zone currently proposed by the <br />Colorado Department of Water Resources to assist Colorado to comply with the Republican River Compact and <br />the Compact Settlementu. The active wells that would be retired under this project have, however, been identified <br />by Colorado State University (CS11) researchers as among a set of wells that, if retired, wouldyield significant <br />flow benefits in the "live" reach of the Arickaree River. The inactive wells that we would like to assess are <br />located in close proximity to the active wells in question. If they were ever re-operated' they would likely reduce <br />the environmental and compact benefits of retiring active wells in the area. <br />The live reach of the Arickaree is located downstream of the target wells and would be positively <br />influenced by the proposed retirements. The live reach is approximately 16 miles long with flows that are <br />sometimes reduced to pools during late summer and early fall. To date, the Arickaree River has never dried to a <br />point where native fish were eliminated from the system. The river supports perhaps the best remaining <br />population ol'brassy minnow in CO as well as a number ol'other native plains fish. <br />The target wells are also located upstream of the Fox Ranch, which is owned and operated by TNC for a <br />range of conservation objectives including habitat for the native plains f sh. Approximately 7.75 miles of the live <br />reach of the Arickaree lie on the Fox Ranch. The Fox Ranch was acquired with financial assistance from the <br />Colorado Division of Wildlife (Wetlands Program) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the <br />significant riparian and aquatic resources of the Arickaree on the ranch. <br />Retiring wells along the Arickaree would yield compact compliance benefits in at least two ways. First, <br />making the Arickaree wetter will improve the transport of any flood flows and yield greater flows across the state <br />line because less water will be absorbed into the alluvium as the flood flows pass over a larger "saturated <br />surface. " Second, the addition of well retirements outside of the curtailment =one will supplement flows in the <br />river overall, increasing the contribution of the Arickaree to Colorado's compact obligations. <br />Visit http://water.state.co.us/wateradmin/republicanriver/maps/Exhibit2O7SepO7.pdf to view a map of the proposed <br />curtailment zone. All of the wells in question are located outside of these zones. The specific wells in question can be <br />identified in relationship to these zones for fiuther consideration. Note that the actions that different parties are taking to <br />reach compliance are fluid and change frequently. <br />10