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PAGE 4 diversions by the well are simply subject to surface water rights administration like the ditch for which the well has been decreed an alternate point. If there is no verifiable daily accounting, how- ever, the policy of the Division Engineer is that all diversions must be included in the depletion model. In order for the out of priority operation of a well to not result in injury, the plan for augmentation or SWSP must replace all out of priority DEPLETIONS. Deple- tions are what impact the river as a result of diversions at the well. The depletions are "out of priority" if there is a call for water (or compact condition) senior to the well downstream of the well location on the day when those depletions report to the river. Recharge Sites The protocol established by the Division Engineer to guide the development of recharge sites has the following primary components: The Water Commissioner must be notified as to the location and approve the set up of the recharge site before any water may be diverted into the structure. All inlet flows must be metered or measured to the satisfaction of the water commissioner before water will be credited toward recharge. The recharge site must be maintained in such a way as to minimize losses to plants. The recharge credit must be reduced by the net evapora- tion from any pooled water, any surface withdrawals from the site and any phrea- tophytic losses if the site is not maintained free of vegeta- tion. The recharge site may not be used to grow crops in the same irrigation season that it is used as a recharge site. Augmentation Supplies A primary source of augmentation supply, especially in the lower South Platte, is the use of changed reservoir water. The basic require- ment to use the historic consump- tive use associated with reservoir shares as a supply of augmentation water is that the plan must show where the water would have been used as irrigation water and main- tain the associated historic return flows that would have occurred with that use. The exception to this requirement is if water is delivered to recharge ponds located on the farm owning the released shares of reservoir water. Fully consumable water that has been decreed for augmentation has no restrictions on its use. Augmentation wells have been identified as potential short term supplies of augmentation water. Because they create their own depletions that must also eventually be replaced, the plan must include other replacement sources. As with irrigation wells, however, only the out of priority depletions must be replaced. So, depending upon the timing of the use, some depletions may not occur out of priority and, therefore, would not need to be replaced. Any losses that occur during delivery of the water to the river will reduce the augmentation credit. All evaporation and losses STREAMLINES to vegetation must be subtracted from the volume discharged at the well. Infiltration losses, however, may be modeled back to the river like a recharge site. Ditch Bypass Credits The key requirement to using bypassed irrigation water as a source of augmentation supply is to demonstrate how the bypassed flow would have otherwise been beneficially used. Once that demonstration is accepted by the Division Engineer, the plan for augmen- tation must maintain the historic return flows that would have been associated with its benefi- cial use, the same as in the use of changed reservoir water. Any increased depletions created by additional well pumping created by bypassing water at the headgate must also be replaced. Augmentation Plan Responsi- bility The plan for augmentation has several points of responsibility for the non - injurious operation of the plan. First, it must provide a projection of the plan operation by April 1 of each year that shows how the plan will be operated that year; i.e. planned diversions, historic diversion and return flow obligations and available aug- mentation supplies. This projection must then be updated monthly with real data through the end of the irrigation season. The plan for augmentation is responsible for not just report- (Continued on page 5)