Hydrology of Area 61, Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Coal Provinces, Colorado and New Mexico

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3.0 WATER USE 3.1 Water Use During 1980 Irrigated Agriculture Is the Largest User of Water in the Area Surface water, withdrawn for agricultural irrigation under the doctrine of prior appropriation, constitutes the largest water use. Water withdrawal in Colfax County, N. Mex., is shown in figure 3.1 -1. This pattern of use is typical of that found throughout Area 61. The largest percent- age of use is for irrigation. Crops grown on irrigated land include corn, small grains, alfalfa, and other hay and irrigated pasture -- including native pasture. Gravity flow is the principal type of irrigation prac- ticed. Evaporation from lake surfaces is the second largest category of withdrawal and the largest non - beneficial use of water in the area. Livestock use, including stock -pond evaporation, is the third great- est use, followed by municipal and industrial use; recreational use, including fish and wildlife; and rural domestic and mineral - production uses. To date (1982), water use for power generation is negligible. Ground water provides only a small percentage of water used in the area; livestock and rural domestic are the principal uses of ground water. An increased use of ground water for irrigation could be expected in the future. Of the water used in Colfax County during 1980, 30 percent was returned to the streams for a net depletion of 70 percent. The waters of both Colorado and New Mexico belong to the people of the States. The right to the use of the water is guaranteed by the doctrine of prior appropriation or "first in time, first in right." Ad- ministration of these rights is by the State Engineer of each State. Streamflow of both States is overap- 28 propriated; in other words, there are more rights than there is water in the streams. The result is only the more senior rights are permitted to divert water most of the time. Most of the junior rights can divert water only during floods or periods of excessive runoff. Except for small stock ponds, a storage right is required to store and retain surface water. Storage rights are administered in the priority system in conjunction with streamflow rights. Wells in Colorado must be adjudicated if they yield more than 15 gallons per minute; wells existing before enactment of the law in 1969 need not be adjudicated if they yield less than 50 gallons per minute. A decree may be required for wells of any capacity. A permit is required to drill a new well (Radosevich and others, 1976). That part of Area 61 in New Mexico is within a declared underground water basin - -the Canadian River basin (New Mexico Interstate Stream Commis- sion and the New Mexico State Engineers Office, 1975), and development of ground water therefore is administered by the New Mexico State Engineer. Permits and the use of licensed well drillers are required for all wells except driven wells that are less than 2 -3/8 inches in diameter. The law prohibits mine dewatering in a declared underground water basin without a valid mine - dewatering permit.