PROJ00091

• Contract/PO #: C153706
• Contractor Name: Lower Arkansas Water Management Association
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 67
• County: Prowers
• Bill Number: SB 96-124
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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To date, LAWMA and its members have expended more than $30,000 for engineering
and legal evaluation of water rights, for preparation of the well data base and mapping, and
for well testing. It anticipates that its members will expend more than $30,000 in 1994 to
complete the initial testing of their wells.

NEED FOR PROJECT

LAWMA is concerned that well owners in the Arkansas River basin will be faced with
more stringent regulations governing the use of ground water. It also is concerned that more
stringent regulations will result in the full or partial curtailment of wells and that such
curtailment will result in a significant economic hardship to its members, to the local area, and
to this part of the state. LAWMA is interested, therefore, in developing a project to replace
depletions to Colorado water rights and to Kansas if necessary under the eventual ruling of
the U.S. Supreme Court in Kansas v. Colorado.

At the present time, LAWMA's members operate 375 irrigation wells, 26 commercial
wells, and 60 municipal wells. The 375 irrigation wells represent about 65 percent of the
total irrigation wells in the water district. These wells provided supplemental or full water
supplies for about 50,000 acres. They involve a total decreed capacity of more than 1,140
cfs or about 70 percent of the total decreed irrigation capacity in the water district. By
proportioning based on decreed capacity, these wells provided an average of about 70,000
acre-feet annually during 1976-85 or about 18 percent of the total irrigation water supply.
During 1977, LAWMA's wells provided a larger part of the total water supply. As mentioned
previously, the City of Lamar and the Towns of Holly, Eads, Hugo, and Kit Carson are
LAWMA members. Lamar is the largest city in the water district and Holly, Eads, Hugo, and
Kit Carson are major towns.

LAWMA's need is for a project to allow its members to continue to have the full usage
of their wells for their various irrigation, municipal, and commercial purposes. The project will
provide replacement water to Colorado water rights on the Arkansas River and its tributaries,
and to Kansas if required by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kansas v. Colorado. The project will
involve 1) the development of procedures to determine the amounts of pumping by its
members and the resulting stream depletion, 2) the acquisition of water and water rights,
3) the development and acquisition of physical facilities, and 4) the preparation of a detailed
operating and management plan.

LAWMA's membership has been increasing steadily since its formation. It anticipates
a significant increase in membership with the advent of more stringent well regulation, and
contemplates that eventually it will cover all active irrigation, municipal, and commercial wells
in Water District 67.

PLAN OF STUDY

The study involved in this request is really more than just a feasibility study. It
involves the development of a detailed plan to make replacements and will thereby establish
the feasibility of the project. LA WMA believes that the detailed replacement plan can be
prepared over a period of approximately 12 months. The full implementation of the plan may
require several years depending on the level of well regulation imposed by the State Engineer,

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