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Colorado Water April 2005
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Colorado Water April 2005
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Publications
Year
2005
Title
Colorado Water
Author
Water Center of Colorado State University
Description
April 2005
Publications - Doc Type
Newsletter
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Water Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer <br />Three recent reports on ground water levels in the High Plains Aquifer are summarized below. <br />The reader is cautioned that the timeframes covered by the reports are not the same. <br />The High Plains Aquifer underlies eight states and, since <br />the 1930s and 1940s, has provided irrigation water for <br />one of the major agricultural regions in the world. Accord- <br />ing to USGS Fact Sheet 2004 -3097, water -level changes in <br />the high plains aquifer, from predevelopment to 2003, ranged <br />from a rise of 86 feet to a decline of 223 feet. The average <br />change across the High Plains has been a decline of 12.6 feet. <br />Approximately 24 % of the aquifer area had more than 10 <br />feet of decline; 17 % had more than 25 feet of decline; and 9 <br />% had more than 50 feet of decline. The largest areas with <br />greater than 50 feet of decline occurred in southwest Kansas, <br />east - central New Mexico, the central part of the Oklahoma <br />Panhandle, and the western part of the Texas Panhandle. <br />What have been recent changes in water levels? The USGS <br />Fact Sheet 2004 -3097 also compares 2002 ground water <br />levels to 2003 levels. The findings indicate a range between <br />a rise of 9 feet to a decline of 14 feet. A decline of 3 feet or <br />greater occurred in 19 % of the wells measured. A State - <br />by -State examination revealed a range between a decline of <br />1.7 feet in Kansas to a decline of 0.3 feet in Wyoming. The <br />average change across the High Plains, from 2002 to 2003, <br />was a decline of 1.2 feet. <br />How much water is associated with the above water level <br />changes? USGS Fact Sheet 2004 -3097 states that total water <br />in storage in 2003 was about 2,940 million acre -feet, which <br />was a decline of about 235 million acre -feet since predevel- <br />opment. For Colorado, the change in water storage from <br />predevelopment to 2003 was a decline of 13.9 million acre - <br />feet. From 2002 to 2003, the change in storage was a decline <br />Of 1.1 million acre -feet. <br />Water levels are recovering in some areas due to management <br />by State and local agencies and improved irrigation efficiency <br />among other factors. Portions of the aquifer below Texas and <br />Kansas, where the aquifer is thinner and deeper below the <br />surface, have the most significant depletion rates. <br />You can view USGS Fact Sheet 2004 -3097 at http: // <br />water.usgs.gov /pubs /fs/2004/3097/ <br />Colorado: Southern High Plains Designated Ground <br />Water District <br />VanSlyke (2004) presents the results of water level measure- <br />ments of wells in the southern High Plains Designated Basin <br />made during the months of February and March 2004. This <br />project was done in cooperation with the Southern High <br />Plains Ground Water Management District and local well <br />owners. Funding for this project was supplied in part from <br />well permit fees collected and managed by the Office of the <br />State Engineer as a result of the passage of Senate Bill 200 <br />during the 1987 legislative session. <br />A total of 95 well sites were visited with 84 wells being mea- <br />sured, recorded and data entered. A review of the 2004 mea- <br />surements, as compared to the 2003 measurements, reveals <br />that the following water level changes have occurred since the <br />last measurement period. <br />• Water levels declined in 32 wells, as compared to 44 <br />wells in 2003 <br />' Water levels rose in 52 wells, as compared to 35 wells in <br />2003 <br />Water levels remained constant in 4 wells, as compared <br />to 9 wells in 2003 <br />The average water level change of all wells in 2004 was a <br />rise of 0.74 feet. <br />You can order the complete report, Ground Water Levels in <br />the Southern High Plains Designated Ground Water Basin, <br />2004, by George VanSlyke, from the Colorado Department <br />of Natural Resources, Records Department at 303 - 866 -3447 <br />between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. <br />Colorado: Northern High Plains Designated Ground <br />Water Basin <br />During the winter of 2004 -5, water levels were obtained for <br />approximately 650 wells in the Northern High Plains Ground <br />Water Basin (Schaubs, 2005). An attempt was made to mea- <br />sure all the wells within an eight -week period beginning in <br />mid - December 2004. Most wells were measured by mid -Feb- <br />ruary 2005. By measuring the wells in a short time period, <br />it is hoped that seasonal fluctuations will be dampened and <br />that the hydrographs and comparison of water level change <br />will more accurately reflect true ground water conditions. <br />Throughout the Northern High Plains, the water levels con- <br />tinue to show the regional decline that is to be expected when <br />water is being "mined." <br />The average rate of decline for the past year was almost <br />one and one -half times the ten -year average and was nearly <br />double that of last year. The 2003 -4 decline was 0.79 feet, <br />while the 2004 -5 rate is 1.31 feet. The well hydrographs <br />contained in the report show water level trends throughout the <br />basin. Based on previous work, the overall decline of 1.31 <br />feet indicates that approximately 1,200,000 acre -feet have <br />been removed from storage. A decline of one foot is equal to <br />a depletion from storage of approximately 900,000 acre -feet. <br />Over the past five years (2000 to 2005), the basin -wide water <br />level has declined approximately 6.08 feet, representing a <br />depletion of approximately 5,472,000 acre -feet or more than <br />five percent of the estimated 1965 storage in the aquifer. The <br />
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