Laserfiche WebLink
LOWER ARKANSAS WATER MANAGEMENT ti,SOCIATION <br /> P. O.Box 1161 <br /> Lamar,Colorado 81052 RECEIVED <br /> (719)336-9696(719)336-2422 FAX <br /> lawma @cminet.net NOV 0 8 2012 <br /> Colorado Water <br /> November 3,2012 Conservation Board <br /> BY EMAIL AND MAIL <br /> (jennifer.gimbel@state.co.us) <br /> Ms.Jennifer Gimbel,Director <br /> Colorado Water Conservation Board <br /> 1313 Sherman Street,Room 721 <br /> Denver,Colorado 80203 <br /> Re: Agricultural Emergency Drought Grant Application <br /> Dear Ms. Gimbel: <br /> Pursuant to Section 37-60-123.5, C.R.S., and the Colorado Water Conservation <br /> Board's ("Conservation Board") Agricultural Emergency Drought Response Program <br /> Guidelines/Procedures dated March 2010 ("Guidelines"), I am writing on behalf of Lower <br /> Arkansas Water Management Association ("LAWMA") to request a grant of $331,592.50 <br /> ($326,800 for augmentation water and $4,792.50 for drought related expenses) for emergency <br /> drought-related water augmentation purposes. <br /> LAWMA is a non-profit corporation organized for the primary purpose of <br /> providing a means for its members to continue to make ground water diversions from irrigation <br /> wells and other structures with junior priorities in the Arkansas River water rights regime. <br /> LAWMA provides this service to its members primarily through its plan for augmentation <br /> decreed in Case No. 02CW181, Water Division 2, and through its Rule 14 Plans. The <br /> predominant use of water by LAWMA's members is for agriculture, but members also use the <br /> water for commercial,municipal,domestic,and industrial uses. <br /> The replacement water that LAWMA provides to its members under its Rule 14 <br /> Plans and its plan for augmentation derives from the water rights that LAWMA changed for such <br /> purposes in Case No. 02CW181 and from water rights LAWMA is now seeking to change in <br /> Case No. 10CW085. The yield of those water rights has been drastically reduced in this year of <br /> extreme drought in the Arkansas River Basin and throughout Colorado. In April, the State <br /> Engineer's Office asked LAWMA to re-evaluate its Rule 14 Plan and adjust the projections in <br /> that plan based on the developing drought conditions. To comply with the State Engineer's <br /> request and to meet its members' water requirements as adjusted downward to respond to the <br /> extreme drought conditions, LAWMA made an emergency purchase of 4000 acre-feet of <br /> replacement water from the Pueblo Board of Water Works on the spot market, at a cost of$81.70 <br /> per acre-foot, for a total cost of$326,800. <br /> LAWMA also has incurred greater than normal administrative and engineering <br /> expenses under these extreme drought conditions, in connection with responding to the State <br /> Engineer's request for evaluation of the Rule 14 Plan and acquiring emergency replacement <br /> supplies on the spot market. Therefore, in addition to a grant of$326,800 to cover the cost of <br />