Laserfiche WebLink
<br />, <br />, <br />, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Agenda Item II.b and c. <br />March 29-30, 1999 Board Meeting <br />Page 2 of 4 <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />to downstream users, including inflow to John Martin Reservoir. To obtain federal assistance and <br />support for the project, the PRWCD sought the Arkansas River Compact Administration's (ARCA's) <br />approval. As a condition of its support as a member of ARCA, Kansas required that five conditions <br />be added to the Operating Principles. These conditions included periodic review of the Operating <br />Principles and the requirement that any subsequent amendment of the principles be subject to review <br />and approval of all parties to the original principles (ARCA, Kansas, the PRWCD, Reclamation, and <br />the Corps of Engineers). <br /> <br />CURRENT ISSUES AT TRINIDAD RESERVOIR <br /> <br />The most recent review of the Operating Principles was concluded in 1996. That review found <br />several minor departures from the Operating Principles, but also found that those departures had no <br />effect on downstream water users in Colorado and Kansas. <br /> <br />The review identified two areas where the principles should be modified to allow more efficient <br />utilization of water available to the project in priority. These two areas are: <br /> <br />1. Equivalent volumetric releases of reservoir inflow up to 1200 AF/year for winter <br />stockwatering purposes, as opposed to a constant flow rate of 5 CFS that is currently allowed. .. <br />The District, Colorado, and Reclamation believe that this change is harmless to those ., <br />downstream, but greatly assists the PRWCD in meeting the needs ofits water users through short <br />duration slug flows which reduce transit losses and improve delivery of the winter stockwater. <br />Kansas has some concerns with the change but is developing language that will allow this <br />change under certain conditions. During the period January 5,1999 through March 31,1999, <br />the District has been delivering stockwater on a volumetric basis, pursuant to an interim change <br />approved by ARCA and Kansas on an emergency basis for 1999 only. <br /> <br />2. Winter storage of irrigation rights historically used for direct flow winter irrigation. This <br />change would allow the District to store direct flow water in addition to the transferred Model <br />Reservoir storage right in years in which more than 20,000 acre-feet are available for storage. <br />This downstream impact is more difficult to analyze and relies on modeling studies by <br />Reclamation. Kansas, and some water users in Colorado below the project area are not yet <br />convinced that this change in the Operating Principles can be implemented without exposing <br />them to an increased risk of additional depletions, In Kansas' view, an entirely new modeling <br />effort is necessary before this change can be approved. The CWCB Director, as a member of <br />ARCA, is attempting to represent the interests of all Colorado water users in this matter. We do <br />not believe extensive new modeling efforts are either necessary or feasible given the lack oflong <br />term hydrological data before the project was built. However, some refmement or further <br />explanation of Reclamation's studies to date may be needed to demonstrate that storage of the <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />C"WY~llB.DOC <br />1oWdo2S,1", <br />