C150364 Feasibility Study - Laserfiche WebLink

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LOAN FEASIBILITY STUDY 2.0 BACKGROUND 2.1.1 Purpose There are many water users within the Huerfano River basin that are at risk of being curtailed under the prior appropriation system due to their uses being out -of- priority to senior calling water rights, including existing plans for augmentation that have failed or are failing. These uses include domestic, commercial, school, and agricultural uses that will be eventually curtailed by the Division of Water Resources if an adequate plan for augmentation is not developed for the basin. See the July 18, 2013 letter from Steve Witte, Division Engineer, located in Appendix A concerning the need for the regional augmentation plan and curtailment of existing water users if the plan is not developed. The Huerfano County Water Conservancy District (HCWCD) intends to use the Camp Ranch Water Rights, described in Appendix B, as the source of augmentation water to replace out -of- priority depletions in a Huerfano River basin wide regional plan for augmentation and exchange for the benefit of Huerfano County and its citizens. The intended plan for augmentation will involve a change of water rights of the Camp Ranch Water Rights from their existing agricultural use to a variety of new beneficial uses, including domestic, municipal, commercial, industrial, school, recreational, and for continued irrigation use. The historical consumptive use of the Camp Ranch Water Rights will be quantified and that consumptive use will be measured, accounted for, and returned to the stream at an augmentation station, recharge facility, or augmentation well pipeline. From these points, part of the historical consumptive use directly returning or accruing to the stream will be credited to the stream for the benefit of senior calling water rights to replace out -of- priority uses occurring within the historical irrigation season. Portions of the historical consumptive use from the Camp Ranch will also be exchanged upstream into the Red Wing Augmentation Pond for later release back to the stream. The release of historical consumptive use credits from storage to the Huerfano River will be used to meet out -of- priority depletions accruing during the non - irrigation season, such as lagged well depletions, and also to replace delayed return flow obligations to the river associated with Camp Ranch Water Rights. These obligations for replacement of out -of- priority depletions and delayed return flows may also be met by placement of consumptive use water and return flows into a recharge facility on the Camp Ranch during the irrigation season and the later accrual of that water to the stream through the alluvial aquifer during the non - irrigation season. The timing of depletions from the District's required augmentation plan customers will be determined as instantaneous for direct stream depletions (i.e., headgate diversions) or as lagged depletions to the river with the use of use of depletion zones based on distances from the stream. Lagged well depletions for customers within each depletion zone will be determined following standard engineering practices for well depletions. The amount of depletions will be determined through use of a standardized and presumptive depletion schedule for the beneficial uses under the regional plan. In this manner, the depletions