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<br />Administration Divisions
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<br />WATER DIVISION 5
<br />
<br />Water Division 5, with headquarters in
<br />Glenwood Springs, encompasses the entire
<br />Colorado River basin, excluding the Gunnison
<br />River basin, from the Colorado-Utah border to
<br />the Continental Divide.
<br />Agriculture is still the dominant water user
<br />with diversions of 2,415,949 acre-feet for the
<br />irrigation of 359,762 acres. The lower elevation
<br />crops, including soybeans, peaches, apples and
<br />corn, use large quantities of irrigation water to
<br />supplement the scarce rainfall.
<br />
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<br />
<br />industrial use during recent years has been for
<br />snowmaking at the ski areas.
<br />Transmountain diversions total about
<br />506,510 acre-feet. Rapid development along the
<br />Front Range will mean greater quantities of
<br />water will be diverted from the Colorado
<br />watershed.
<br />Administration of the Colorado River is
<br />subject to the provisions of the Colorado River
<br />and Upper Colorado River compacts as are all
<br />streams on the western slope of the Continental
<br />Divide.
<br />
<br />WATER DIVISION 6
<br />
<br />Water Division 6, with headquarters at
<br />Steamboat Springs, encompasses the
<br />northwestern corner of Colorado and involves
<br />administration of the North Platte, Yampa,
<br />Green, Little Snake and White Rivers. Elevations
<br />range from near 14,000 feet on the east to
<br />around 5,000 feet on the west, including rugged
<br />mountains, irrigated valleys, desert ranges, and
<br />the beautiful canyon country of the Yampa and
<br />Green Rivers. Water use is almost entirely on
<br />mountain meadows with the crops being
<br />predominately grass hay and alfalfa hay used for Water Division 7, with headquarters in
<br />maintenance of large sheep and cattle herds. Durango, covers two major basins; the San Juan
<br />Nearly 8,000 individual decreed water and the Dolores with administrative units along
<br />rights, including many conditional decrees for the major tributaries to these basin streams: the
<br />development of oil shale and coal deposits; are San Juan, Navajo, Piedra, Pine, Florida, Animas,
<br />administered by the Division, distributing some La Plata, Mancos, and Dolores Rivers; McElmo,
<br />732,000 acre-feet of water to 228,000 acres of Disappointment and Siembritas Creeks.
<br />irrigated land and other uses. Many of the These streams and their tributaries
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<br />mountains and require long trips by foot, irrigated land with annual diversions of over
<br />horseback, motor bike or snowmobile to 1,000,000 acre-feet. McPhee Reservoir is the
<br />administer. largest in the division, storing 380,000 acre-feet.
<br />Cooperative agreements with Wyoming Other major reservoirs include Vallecito
<br />on the Little Snake River, and with Utah on Pot Reservoir (126,000 A.F.) and Lemon Reservoir
<br />Creek, a small tributary to Green River. are (42,000 A.F.). There are several transmountain
<br />effective in administering waters of those diversions to the Rio Grande Basin including
<br />interstate streams. All water in the Division is diversions of approximately 100,000 acre-feet
<br />subject to the Colorado and Upper Colorado annually through the San Juan-Chama Project
<br />River Compacts except the North Platte River to New Mexico.
<br />which is administered according to a U.S. Administration of water in the division is
<br />Supreme Court decision requiring measurement governed by the La Plata River, Colorado, and
<br />of acreage irrigated and water stored annually. Upper Colorado River Compacts.
<br />
<br />WATER DIVISION 7
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<br />Page 27
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