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speed on the activities of the Republican River <br />Conservation District (RRCD). In order to com- <br />ply with the settlement with Kansas, the RRCD <br />starting charging a fee as of January 1, 2005, of <br />$5.50 per irrigated acre. Coryell stated that the <br />CREP sign -up for 2005 was good but did not <br />result in the retirement of many wells. A full time <br />water commissioner will begin working with the <br />district to monitor acreage and pumping. <br />Luis Garcia (Colorado State University) explained <br />his research on remote sensing of evapotranspi- <br />ration and crop stress reduction as it applies to <br />applications for water resources, irrigation, and <br />drainage. Through this research, Garcia can iden- <br />tify the impacts of salinity on crops and determine <br />the efficiency of irrigation systems using tech- <br />nologies such as GIS, numerical modeling and, <br />and databases. David Nielson (USDA) talked <br />about increasing residue to capture moisture and <br />reduce evaporation rates. He gave the example <br />that no -till wheat stubble can capture about twice <br />the amount of water as conventional tillage. He <br />showed the audience slides of two fields adjacent <br />to each other with one having stubble and the <br />other tilled. Snow had fallen on each field but <br />evaporated or blew off the tilled field, while the <br />stubble field was covered with snow. <br />Nolan Doesken ( CSU Climate Center) said the <br />1980s and 90s were moist, but since that time we <br />have been experiencing a wide - spread drought <br />coupled with high temperatures, resulting in a <br />decline in ground water. <br />CSU Extension Water Resources Specialist and <br />conference organizer, Joel Schneekloth, talked <br />about different options to reduce pumping from <br />the Republican River basin such as reducing crop <br />evapotranspiration by changing to crop types that <br />use less water, reducing the amount of irrigated <br />acreage and a rotation from high to low water use <br />crops. He also said that alternate crops should be <br />(Top) <br />Rob Wawrzynski <br />(Colorado Depart- <br />ment of Agriculture) <br />and Troy Bauder <br />(CSU) were among <br />the many exhibitors <br />present. <br />(Left) <br />Patti Rettig (Water <br />Archivist at CSU Mor- <br />gan Library) and Reagan <br />Waskom (interim <br />director of CWRRI) <br />pause for a moment of <br />conversation. <br />(Above) <br />Ron Meyer (CSU Cooperative Exten- <br />sion) and Dennis Coryell (Colorado <br />Groundwater Commission) discuss <br />the new conservation district. <br />27 <br />