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<br />WATER DIVISION 1
<br />
<br />Water Division 1, with headquarters at
<br />Greeley, covers the South Platte, Republican and
<br />Laramie Rivers and tributaries, including
<br />approximately one fourth of the state of Colorado.
<br />The South Platte Basin is the most
<br />developed agricultural area in the state,
<br />embracing about 1,800,000 acres of irrigated land
<br />and contains a population of about 1,500,000. An
<br />average of 2,800,000 acre-feet of surface water is
<br />distributed annually to users by means of some
<br />6,418 canals and numerous reservoirs. There are
<br />about 12,180 iarge irrigation and 2,177 municipai,
<br />industrial and commercial wells in the South Platte
<br />River Basin pumping about 1,600,000 acre-feet of
<br />water annually from aquifers tributary to the South
<br />Platte River system. The recently completed
<br />litigation of water rights indicates there are in
<br />excess of 25,000 decrees in Division 1.
<br />The Division includes the Northem High
<br />Plains, Camp Creek, Lost Creek, Upper Crow
<br />Creek and Kiowa-Bijou Designated Ground Water
<br />Basins.
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<br />WATER DIVISION 2
<br />
<br />Water Division 2. with headquarters at
<br />Pueblo, embraces the drainage area of the
<br />Arkansas River and tributaries, extending from the
<br />Continental Divide at Climax on the west, to the
<br />Colorado-Kansas line on the east.
<br />There are about 580,000 acres of land
<br />irrigated in Division 2 requiring administration of 2
<br />million acre-feet of water diverted from surface
<br />streams and about 166,000 acre-feet of
<br />underground water pumped by 2,713 large
<br />decreed irrigation wells and 968 municipal,
<br />industrial and commercial wells from aquifers
<br />tributary to the Arkansas River system. A total of
<br />725 irrigation wells are active in the Southern High
<br />Plains Designated Groundwater Basin from which
<br />are pumped some 130,000 acre-feet annually
<br />from three principal aquifers.
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<br />There are 5,297 decreed ditches and 1,058
<br />reservoirs. There are over 16,600 decreed water
<br />rights in Division 2.
<br />The Arkansas River Compact and the
<br />Frying Pan-Arkansas and Trinidad Projects are key
<br />factors in administration of water in Division 2.
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<br />WATER DIVISION 3
<br />
<br />Water Division 3, with headquarters at
<br />Alamosa, consists of the Rio Grande and its
<br />tributaries as well as the several small streams that
<br />flow into the closed basin which total area is
<br />referred to as the San Luis Valley, bounded on the
<br />north and west by the Continental Divide, on the
<br />east by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and on
<br />the south by the Colorado-New Mexico line.
<br />The valley encompasses 547,000 acres of
<br />irrigated land to which is applied some 1,250.000
<br />acre-feet of surface and reservoir water and
<br />400.000 acre-feet of underground water
<br />withdrawn by some 4,216 large capacity irrigation,
<br />municipal. industrial and commercial wells. In
<br />Division 3 there are some 3,000 ditches and 150
<br />reservoirs. Over 15,000 decreed water rights are
<br />tabulated.
<br />Administration is governed by two
<br />interstate compacts, the Rio Grande Compact
<br />and the Costilla Creek Compact, both of which
<br />require constant administration. The Peoples
<br />Ditch in the Town of San Luis is the oldest decreed
<br />water right in Colorado, dating back to 1852.
<br />The San Luis Valley is underlain by one of
<br />the largest aquifers in the United States, estimated
<br />to contain over 2 billion acre-feet of stored water.
<br />not all of which is recoverable. Most of this
<br />storage occurs in the artesian aquifer which, when
<br />penetrated from a few hundred to several
<br />thousand feet, results in free flowing wells.
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<br />Water
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<br />WATER DIVISION 4
<br />
<br />Headquartered at Montrose, Division 4 is
<br />comprised of parts of seven counties in
<br />southwestern Colorado which covers over
<br />12,000 square miles, including the entire
<br />drainage basins of the Gunnison and San Miguel
<br />Rivers. and additionally. that part of the Dolores
<br />River in Montrose and Mesa counties.
<br />The annual available water supply is
<br />significantly dependent upon the snow-pack
<br />runoff, limited rainfall, and storage reservoirs.
<br />The annual average diversions for irrigation
<br />purposes are in excess of 2,000,000 acre-feet
<br />and approximately 410,000 acres are under
<br />Irrigation Division 4. The water rights tabulation
<br />of decrees in Division 4 is estimated at
<br />approximately 18.000.
<br />Division 4 has a number of small
<br />transmountain diversions of water from adjacent
<br />divisions. The largest diversion flows into Division
<br />5 for uses which include the municipal water
<br />supply for the cities of Grand Junction and Fruita,
<br />the production of power, and the irrigation project
<br />for the Redlands.
<br />Waters of the Division are subject to terms
<br />of the Colorado River Compact and the Upper
<br />Colorado River Compact.
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