Prepared Statement to the Landowners Riverside Irrigation District

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In addition, there is a great deal a'F pressure for delivery to be made earlier in the sprint, a :iUcih is not done because of limited demand and >:ear o: a l.a'%.ez r IN-rt ge during the critical period.. In addition, there is 90 )1d•a.lcaz 0" canal. bordered by dry lands and pasture3 pY_ L iar i1y &:4)o.ve the canal that choke off delivery on accounii - . of Weeds blowing in the di .:ch. Once trapped in the canal., they must eitbcr be flushed out the lower end by wasting water or removed. ;Iaedless to say, if the head is small, they lodge at various points creating sand bars and cutting the e:ficiency of the canal for an entire season. Prom time to time during the irrigation season, heavy rains develop. HU0e quantities of water pour into the canal, the user has had his irrigation done for him, his ditches are washed out. Irrigation water is one thing he could do without. Since there is SO miles OZ canal and the rate of travel is a little over a mile an hour of the crater, there is no way he can be relieved Of the burden of doing the best he can until the water drains out of the canal. For come, this is over 2 days time. The District cannot let him close the gate since, as the ditch becomes smaller, it s i.TLIgdly 7301.11d not Bold the water. Practically then, this water is 105 to beneficial use and amounts to a minimum of 500 acre feet and usually is close to 1,000 acre feet per occurence. The system e«tends from just inside the Weld County line and almost entirely across the North half of Morgan County. Many times conditions are such th<t - the East half or the West half are in need of water or evert it has been G ivided into West .one - third, iliddle thirst, and East third. The rate of demand is so small that -many h`adgates will not draw enough hater for the users tastes at that time. There are many - thousands of acres oz land lying above the canal that is adaptable to irrigation by a small lift froia the canal by roti'r irrigation. There are many more acres that can be serviced by the new traveling n inklers. Some development of this land is being made by somf3 users by spreading their now owned hater thinner, by renting crater hand to mouth and just trusting to Gory. There is a demand for firm water. A new element has been introduced within the last 10 years of era ter cualit�v, At one time crater teas water if it was viet and could be swallowed. Now it is clearly recognized that it must be examined more closely. In general, the less soluble solids it contains the more desirable it is for domestic use. The kind of soluble solids also is a 'Factor. The t,rater that is drawn from the South Matte River at Kersey varies from a high of 1379 parts per million, to a loci of 484 during a flood; the average will be in the 1,000 p.p.im. range. The riverside District possesses 6,000 units of Big Thompson water with 50 p.p.m. total dissolved solids and none of the critical elements that pertain to cmality. Eventually the high quality water now possessed by the Riverside Irrigation District for irrigation will need to be kept separate and used for municipal and inentstry .There crater of this quality is an essential. Agriculture can use a lower quality of - :rater and in some instances if t-Le ilertients corkta-ined therein are the right 'typc, be 'better. alert again, economic forces are at :^rods. Fabulous offers have been made for this crater, but the Board O -J Directors have rmaCie and set a price not in dollars but in adequate supplies for the Riverside. The last speculator M-M