Basin Issues February 1998

• Description: Basin Issues February 1998. Various colorado basins, issues, data, budgets and meetings.
• State: CO
• Date: 2/1/1998
• Title: Basin Issues February 1998
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Meeting

e. During flood operations offset account spills after existing JMR Section III accounts for
alternate place of storage held by upstream diverters: Ft. Lyon Canal Co., Amity Mutual, and
Las Animas Consolidated Canal Co. Spills prior to all District 67 accounts at JMR.
f. Evaporation is prorated on the basis of volume with all other accounts and pools in the
Reservoir. Initially evaporation is charged to Colorado, but after depletions have occurred
than Kansas pays evaporation on water they choose to leave in account.
g. Transit losses on deliveries to Stateline must be made up by additional account releases.
h. Colorado must make monthly and annual accounting to Kansas and account may be
discontinued by either State effective on March 31 by giving notice prior to Feb. 1 of any
year.
2. Stipulation approved by Special Master on April 4, 1997 controls method for determining
credits Colorado receives against post- Compact well pumping for water delivered to and released u�
from the offset account.
a. Only fully consumable water [non- native or historical consumptive use] can be used to --
offset well depletions. Determination of consummability to be made by Colorado SEO,
subject to review and challenge by Kansas, burden on Colorado to prove.
b. Stateline deliveries made on Kansas's demand subject to transit losses from JMR to
Stateline, and Colorado only receives credit for volume actually released and reaching
Stateline. Over deliveries are credited against future depletions.
Future Water and Storage Needs Assessment. The CWCB is providing $75,000
b, (approximately 45% of study cost) and technical assistance for this study sponsored and
coordinated by an "enterprise" created by the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District
(SECWCD). The study will help municipal and agricultural water users in the district service
area identify future water demands, evaluate the adequacy of existing supplies and identify
potential cooperative solutions to meet projected needs. The CWCB is participating both to
encourage collaborative planning efforts and to assess the availability of augmentation water
supplies for continued compliance with the Arkansas River Compact. An engineering contractor
has been selected and the study is in progress. A study report will be available in ay 1998 One
significant alternative to be considered during the study is a proposed state sponsored water bank
to be used to faciliate compact compliance and perhaps help meet future wildlife and recreational
needs.
Multi- Objective Floodplain Management Planning Study. In response to the 1995
statewide flooding, spills from John Martin Reservoir, and difficulty passing the design flow of
3,000 cfs down to the stateline; the CWCB is conducting "multi- objective" planning studies of
floodplain management issues for the Arkansas (South Platte, and Roaring Fork Rivers have
similar studies in progress). These studies involve stakeholder groups and are expected to address
stream conveyance, channel and bank erosion, fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, and other
shared uses of the stream corridors. One of the goals of these studies is to analyze the causes and
problems related to the 1995 flooding conditions and to formulate economical, usable and
practical solutions to mitigate and reduce future flood damages. The studies will also address the
partnering of the flood control, with irrigated agriculture, recreation, and environmental
communities and the integration of local, state, and federal flood mitigation programs. There are
two study reaches on the Arkansas, one above John Martin Reservoir and one below John Martin
Reservoir.
Ground Water Pumping Measurement Study. SB 97 -008 authorized funds (up to $100,000)
for a cooperative study by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the State Engineer on the
accuracy of methods used to measure ground water pumping in the Arkansas River Basin. This
study will evaluate the use of the "power conversion coefficient method" as an appropriate way to
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December 30, 1997
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