BOARD02195

• Board Meeting Date: 9/12/1964
• Description: Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

that the average precipitation over the basin,
1957-1961, inclusive, was the highest 5-year
average in recorded records. The stream flow
fell far short of either maximum peaks or
to~l flow with the Big Thompson diversion water
added. '

Past history has shown that in many suc-
cessive years there will be no water for a
project of this kind. Projecting the pump
developments and other small, but many indivi-
dual developments, these periods will be longer
in years successively and closer between inter-
vals. The Bureau of Reclamation again will
have issued another short check, this time in
terms of short water supplies instead of poor
lands as at Riverton project or a poor reser-
voir as at Anchor and Owl Creek in wyoming.
There seems to be no penalty for the personnel'
guilty of colossal errors.

In the Bureau of Reclamation studies
they failed to take into consideration the
trends as indicated by the stream records,
the real impact of the many factors that
actually result in increased consumptive use
of water.

I

For example, they could have easily found
that in the period from 1926-1930 to the period
1957-1961 that 126,500 acre-feet more of water
was moved into consumptive use annually during
the latter period than in the 1926-1930 period.
This is at an annual rate of 4,000 acre-feet
per year increase in consumptive use as an
average. A continuation of this rate for
another 30 years will be another 120,000 acre-,
feet. If the past year is any indication it
will be accelerated in rate. To my own know- I
ledge additional pumps have gone in utilizing
new lands or supplemental to ditches that will
require 8,000 acre-feet annually of additional
consumptive use and those, gentlemen, were put
in this year and they are there and they are
going to be used~

The U. S. Bureau of Reclamation's proposal