Prepared Statement to the Landowners Riverside Irrigation District

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As water becomes More e.;pensive to store and develop, also the farm production Faust go up and if farming as is develope�� it means more Work and better - management to the individual that has chosen irrigated h pro woo on, This cxoam is not something for nothing. No kind fairy is going to do the job. Your Board of Directors and management can build the tools for use, the landowners must determine Zor themselves the , �I,sdom of buying the improved tool and if they do, whether they can farm the price out of it and how muc they will then have left for the additional labor they evill have had? to add. The Riverside Irrigation now has as sources of water a 1907 Direct Decree for 417 c.f.s. from the South Plano River and all tributories to the South Platte .diver which the canal intersects. Originally this viater was intended Zor use on over 30#000 acres, but due to practical uses is now 210500 acres. 80 74 of Riverside Reservoir 5, of Prewitt Reservoir 11 of Jackson Reservoir 2% of the Colorado Big Thompson 2/ of tiJeldon Valley A well field capable of producing 15,000 a.f. if needed, now developed by five dells Which have produced 5,000 a.f. in a season. � - "th all these sources of direct floe, reservoir and %veils, a dry year Will tax them to the limit. Many years, ho%Vever, the direct fl o%a in the river can not be Utilized since the time it is available the need is not there and the present reservoir is filled. had for additional storage can be 'fie taking , ' _there is a Place to store T--Iany more acres could be servIceci with existing water rights with proper facilities. The deficiency of the Riverside system is in lack of facilities: (1) to store and (2) to deliver. riverside Reservoir has a capacity of 60,000 acre feet. The 'seepage and evaporation amounts to approximately 10 per cent of the stored volume per month. It has a Decree dated 1907 to store actually 57,500 a. f* delivered to the Reser and a 1910 Decree to as .gull as it can be safely frilled. In addition, there is a Decree dated 1929 that permits a complete refilling. The only requirement as with all shall Decrees is that the water water be used beneficially. The 1907 Decree for x'.-17 cubic feet per second o%Jned by the Riverside Irrigation District flovis through the reservoir. This refill Decree is used to replace seepage and evaporation losses, but cannot be utilized to the full es:tent because 'there is no place to use it. The canal serving Riverside District has Riverside Reservoir and is sized to deliver s tile g wafler g to t the headgates upon demand at preselVe. It is no %a operated on a very close margin to be able to deliver the volume of %eater to the uses. at the time Of demand. The situation is not critical at present, With the addition of new lands, it 1ould be ibapossible to meet the increased load Without enlarging the canal. -2-