Arkansas - Upper Ark WCD Hydrologic Water Balance Study_Application

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Water Supply Reserve Account- Grant Application Form Form Revised May 2007 Use in the Arkansas Basin," in response to the Kansas vs. Colorado suit. The District also acquired storage rights at two additional reservoirs in Chaffee County: Rainbow Lake (elevation 9,230 feet) and Cottonwood Lake (elevation 9,560 feet), both within the Cottonwood Creek drainage. The District also began acquiring water rights to meet the increased demand for augmentation of wells/diversion structures due to promulgation of the Arkansas Basin Rules. By the mid-1990s, population growth escalated in the Upper Arkansas region. For example, the population of Chaffee County grew 23% between 1980 and 2000. Historically, municipal water users planned independently of one another. Double-digit population growth increased municipal demands, intensifying the need for reservoir storage. UAWCD began planning for integrated management with municipalities and water providers. Since most municipal supply sources tend to be from minor tributaries like Cottonwood Creek and major tributaries like the South Arkansas, integrating reservoir storage at the headwaters of these tributaries became vitally important to both water resource managers and land use planners. For instance, by utilizing Pueblo Reservoir and Twin Lakes water in conjunction with its tributary storage, the District increased water use efficiency and met demands related to population growth. By the early-2000s, to continue to meet growing water needs due to the combined forces of population growth and increased augmentation requirements, UAWCD filed an application in Water Court to integrate its supplies with its reservoir storage vessels and expand the geographic extent of its existing blanket augmentation plans into eastern Fremont and Custer Counties. For instance, Custer County grew 80% between 1980 and 2000, and is projected to grow 150% between 2000 and 20351 (see bar graph in answer to evaluation criterion d). As part of its approval to integrate the supply plan, the Colorado State Engineer mandated that UAWCD install remote continuous recording instrumentation at reservoirs to improve measurement of outflows and inflows, and also install remote continuous recording instrumentation at certain stream locations. In the mid-2000s, UAWCD began planning for what eventually became its -$815,000 structural water project consisting of 15 automated data collection platforms (dcps) at its six high mountain reservoirs and at nine tributary stream locations. UAWCD successfully leveraged local, state, and federal funds including -$285,000 each from BOR and the WSRA. Gaging at the 15 locations will be installed over the next two years. North Fork Reservoir (elevation 11,400 feet) is already gaged with a state-of-the art water and weather dcp. The District worked with USGS and Source Water Consuiting of Buena Vista to calibrate data and make it available on the UAWCD website. Stream gage data will be managed in the same manner using CWCB software so that records for administration and augmentation agree. Between 2005 and 2008, UAWCD began planning for what eventually became this USGS water balance study. This project will take full advantage of the BOR and WSRA investment in dcps in the basin. Data from the 15 data collection platforms -12 are located in the study area - adds value to the hydrologic water balance study, which is designed to save money in large part by utilizing available data and not drilling any additional welis. For instance, this study will utilize data from -50 existing domestic ground water wells; -30 have pre-existing access agreement from the 2000-2003 USGS study. The new study will quantify both surface water and ground water and characterize the interaction between them. Study results can be used to estimate aquifer recharge rate to identify the amount of water available for sustainable use. 1 Colorado Department of Local Affairs State Demography Office, November 2007. Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District (UAWCD) Page 7 of 42