Southeastern Coloraodo Water Conservancy District 2002 Annual Report

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As the Board of Directors moved through the process of finding a new general manager, the job of keeping the District on track fell on the president of the Board, Alan Hamel, and the District staff. Additionally, the Board members stepped up their participation and helped wherever they could. The team concept worked very well and a very capable new general manager was hired in November. Jim Broderick took over the reins of overseeing the District in January of 2003. The District says thank you to Steve for all of his hard work and leadership, and we wish him the best as he moves forward in his new position. Project Water Allocations Due to the effect of the drought, the Fry -Ark Project did not yield as much water as it has in the past. The District and Reclamation watched snow pack conditions throughout the winter and spring of 2002 -2003, but all of that interest didn't change Mother Nature's plans. The snow pack resulted in approximately 8,660 acre -feet of Project water imports, which were about 30,000 acre -feet less than originally estimated. The District added about 2,200 acre -feet of Enterprise -owned Project water to provide only 10,864 acre -feet for the 2002 -2003 Project water allocation. The first year that the municipal entities requested their full fifty -one percent (51 %) of the Project water allocation was in 2002. The 2002 allocation of 10,864 acre -feet was drastically less than the 76,700 acre -feet of Project water allocated in 2001, and paled in comparison to the 156,000 acre -feet allocated in 2000. Winter Water Storage Program The 2002 -2003 Winter Water Storage Program could not be classified as a success when compared to previous years. The total program stored 74,775 acre -feet, with 31,871 acre -feet being stored in Pueblo Reservoir. Storage capacity in Pueblo Reservoir was not an issue for this year's Winter Water Storage Program. The main issues were not only the lack of stream flow due to a low snowfall from three consecutive seasons, but the mild winter encouraged non - participating ditches senior to the Winter Water Storage Program to irrigate. The 2002 -2003 Winter water yield was approximately 60,000 acre -feet less than the prior program and about 80,000 acre -feet less than the average storage for the previous five years. As the drought continues, every drop of Winter water will be needed for 2003. Water Bank Pilot Program Ready to Roll In 2001, House Bill 1354 was signed into law creating the Arkansas River Water Bank Pilot Program. During 2002, the Water Bank started to take form as the State Engineer worked through the rule making process. The State Engineer's office held a series of meetings throughout the region to gain input and listen to concerns regarding the Water Bank. Draft rules were then published and public comment was requested. After much discussion, the rules were then finalized and published in July 2002. In August a Water Bank development team was formed consisting of members from the Division 2 Engineer's office and District staff. Over the next four months they developed the system and web site that will guide operation of the Water Bank. The web site was presented to the Board at the November Board meeting and approval was given to have the District staff operate the Water Bank for one year. The Water Bank officially opened January 21, 2003. The Web site for the Water Bank is www.coloradowaterbank.org