Water Conservation / Supply Reconaissance Study Part 2

• Description: Final Report - related to the Platte River Research Cooperative Agreement ‎(aka Platte River Recovery Implementation Program or PRRIP)‎ - Part 2
• State: CO
• State: NE
• State: WY
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 12/1/1999
• Author: Boyle Engineering Corporation
• Title: Water Conservation/Supply Reconnaissance Study for the Platte River Research Cooperative Agreement - Part 2
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

•
Groundwater levels in a number of observation wells have risen for the
entire period since 1941 (Bredehoeft and Hinckley, July 1998). The
mound south of the Platte River is located in parts of Lincoln, Gosper,
Phelps, and Kearney Counties. High water table conditions also exist
in Dawson County. The mound currently contains approximately 14
million ac -ft of groundwater storage (Bredehoeft and Hinckley, July
1998). CNPPID applied for permits for 7 million ac -ft and 2.5 million
ac -ft of incidental groundwater storage and recovery in 1984
(Application U -2) and 1988 (Application U -12), respectively.
The groundwater build -up is the result of diversions from the Platte
River into the area south of the river (Bredehoeft and Hinckley, July
1998). Water recharging the aquifer in that area is a result of seepage
from: 1) several reservoirs including, Sutherland Reservoir, Lake
Maloney, Jeffrey Reservoir, Johnson Lake and Elwood Reservoir,
2) canals and laterals including the Sutherland and Tri- County Canals,
3) NPPD and CNPPID irrigation systems, and 4) precipitation
recharge. Seepage data were obtained from the Bredehoeft- Hinckley
report. In that report, seepage data were calculated from a water
balance for each of the following three mound segments:
• The Sutherland Canal from the Sutherland Reservoir to the
South Platte River return;
The Tri- County Canal from the Platte River diversion to the
Johnson return; and
• The Phelps, E -65, and E -67 irrigation systems supplied by the
Tri- County Canal.
The seepage loss to groundwater in these segments was generally
calculated as diversions from the river less evaporation from the canals
and reservoirs, less changes in reservoir storage, less returns to the
South Platte and/or Platte Rivers, less groundwater irrigation
consumption. The data required to complete the water balances for
each segment were obtained from the annual Hydrographic Report of
the Nebraska Department of Water Resources (NDWR) and
CNPPID's U -2 and U -12 applications for incidental underground
storage and recovery. The net groundwater recharge for the three
segments to the mound for the period 1987 though 1996 was
calculated to be 397 cfs (Bredehoeft and Hinckley, July 1998).
8 -G -55