Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District 2003 Annual Report

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SEC- 3. Temporary leases are limited to a maximum per year of 10,000 acre -feet. 4. Temporary leases can only be executed when Aurora's storage capacity is below 60 percent and must be used to improve their storage capacity — not for immediate use. 5. Use of temporary leases requires implementation of an "increasing block rate structure" for Aurora's water users to encourage conservation. 6. Use of temporary leases requires implementation of mandatory outdoor water restrictions on Aurora's water users. With these restrictions, the damaging effects upon native water flow in the Arkansas Basin will be eliminated. Aurora also entered into an agreement for reuse of its existing water supplies to meet its future needs. In this agreement Aurora will be required to "enhance and enlarge" its reuse efforts to meet future demand. These efforts must reduce its demand on out -of -basin sources for water before it can attempt to claim water rights in the Arkansas River Basin after 2043. These agreements require formation of a regional resource group comprised of the negotiating entities and will include other Arkansas Valley entities to develop procedures for enhancing and protecting Arkansas Valley water resources. The agreements mark a historic and dramatic departure for the past practices in mitigation to a basin of origin. To that end these agreements will change the way other basins negotiate. Project Water Allocations Due to the effect of the drought, the Fry -Ark Project still did not yield as much water as it had 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 37,500 acre -feet of Project water imports, which was just about what Reclamation estimated in May of 2003. The District allocated 35,165 acre -feet of Project water. 2003 was the second year that the municipal entities requested more than their full fifty -one percent (51 %) of the Project water allocation. The 35,165 acre -feet allocation in 2003 was better than the 10,864 acre -feet allocated in 2002. This was still significantly 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 2003 -2004 Winter Water Storage Program could not be classified as a success when compared to previous years. The total program stored 81,077 acre -feet with 29,407 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 four consecutive seasons, but the mild winter encouraged non - participating ditches senior to the Winter Water Storage Program to irrigate. The 2003 -2004 Winter water yield was approximately 6,664 acre -feet more than the prior program, but about 63,133 acre -feet less than the average storage for the previous five years. As the drought continues, every drop of winter stored water will be needed for 2004. Fryingpan- Arkansas Project Tour On June 23 -24, the annual Fryi ngpan -Arkansas Project Tour was held. The Southeastern District sponsors the tour on a yearly basis in conjunction with the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation. The goal of each tour is to join a diverse group of people to share views on water, make contacts, and realize the vision that began on August • 9 •