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water and pay for consulting and legal costs. The information from the <br />meeting in Wiggins indicates that about 45,000 acres would have to be <br />dried up to create this much augmentation water. Using information from <br />the recent Box Elder designation hearing, the approximate average <br />consumptive use of ground water is 1 acre-foot per irrigated area. The <br />consumptive use from the 45,000 acres would be in the order of 50,000 <br />acre-feet. Since the wells have been pumping for 40 years or more, the <br />stream depletion from this pumping would be about the same or 50,000 <br />acre-feet per year. The amount of augmentation water that would be <br />needed would vary depending on the length of the call by downstream <br />surface water rights. Prior to the drought of 2002, the call period averaged <br />about 3 months per year, July through September. Since the drought of <br />2002, the call has been nearly year around. <br />curtailed <br />Acquiring leased water for depletions will be difficult. There are other <br />augmentation organizations looking for additional augmentation supplies, <br />Central WCD's GMS and WAS plans are two that are short of water and <br />will be competing for available leased water. Last year the cities with <br />Windy Gap Project water offered to allow well owners to pay for the <br />pumping costs to pump water from the Fraser River to Granby Reservoir <br />for delivery through the Adams Tunnel to the South Platte River Basin in <br />the amount of 10,000 acre-feet and at a cost of $70 per acre-foot. It may <br />be possible that such an agreement could be entered into but it would be <br />for only one year as that is all that the Colorado River WCD would agree <br />to last year. This water plus any other possible water available from cities <br />in the Northern Front Range may provide water to augment at most <br />20,000 acre-feet of depletions, not nearly enough to cover depletions from <br />pumping in prior years i.e. 30,000 to 50,000 acre-feet. <br />The cost of acquiring water for a long term solution by purchase from <br />willing sellers is estimated to be $300 to $500 million using an average <br />cost of $10,000 per acre-foot of consumptive use. The price is higher <br />near Denver and lower near Ft. Morgan and the average is approximately <br />$10,000 per acre-foot. The repayment cost spread over 30 years with 0% <br />interest would be $2,300 per acre per year which is far more than the land <br />can produce each year per acre which is at best $300 per acre after costs <br />are considered. Clearly this is the problem that has prevented farmers <br />from moving forward in many areas along the South Platte River. Costs <br />are much less downstream of Sterling where recharge projects and <br />augmentation wells are a viable method of augmentation at a much lower <br />cost due to a shorter call season as there is no call outside of the irrigation <br />season. <br />j. Make CREP/EQIP type programs available for farms on which wells <br />What is Happening in the Republican River Basin: