PROJ00259

• Contract/PO #: C153424
• Contractor Name: Colorado River Water Conservation District
• Water District: 0
• Bill Number: XB 99-999
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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filling. During the spring snowmelt there is plenty of water for most
senior rights. By late summer, when natural flows have subsided and
irrigation demand is high, the Cameo diversions will place a call on
the river, preventing most upstream reservoirs from continuing to
fill. Releases from Green Mountain Reservoir are increased during
this period to mitigate the effects of the water right call.

2. Project Area

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The project area is comprised of nine major drainage basins:
West Divide Creek, Alkali Creek, East Divide Creek, Mamm Creek, Dry
Hollow Creek, Yank Creek, Thompson Creek, Owens Creek, and Buzzard
Creek. The total amount of presently irrigated areas is about 14,900
acres and the total number of potential irrigated acres is about
19,600 in all these basins combined.

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The average annual diversion requirement for the project area
crops is 3.12 feet per acre. On the average, sixty-four percent of
the total amount diverted for irrigation is lost to the atmosphere
through crop evapotranspiration. Thus the average annual consumptive
use is 2.0 ac-ft per acre. The remaining 1.12 feet represents system
losses such as canal seepage, and direct runoff from irrigation
(return flows), which may eventually appear elsewhere in the basins
for possible reuse.

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Existing irrigated lands within the project area experience
significant shortages during the late summer months because no water
storage reservoirs currently exist within any of these basins. The
present pattern of irrigation involves flooding the irrigated areas
",ith as much water as possible in May and June. By early July the
normal stream flow drops to levels which preclude or markedly reduce
further irrigation. Irrigated crops must survive the remainder of the
growing season on residual soil moisture and available precipitation.

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The average annual amount of water available in the project
area is 88,300 acre-feet. The total amount required for diversion to
exis ting irrigated area averages 46,500 acre-feet per year, and the
average annual existing shortage is 23,900 acre-feet.

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There are about 9,150 acres of land in the existing West
Divide Creek irrigation system which are presently irrigated from four
major irrigation ditches. These ditches are supplied by \~est Divide
Creek, Dry Hollow Creek and Alkali Creek. The average annual diver-
sion requirement for irrigated lands is 28,550 acre-feet. The average
annual flow in the West Divide Creek system is almost 30,800 acre-feet

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