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I I I I I I I I I I I Mr. Robert E. Warner, 3 July 1972 Page 2 the other months because of water right calls and low flow. The average dis- charge at the station for nine years was 119 cfs, or 86,300 acre-feet. By correlation, the dry years of 1934, 1954, and 1955 would have had annual flows of about 32,000, 36,000 and 55,000 acre-feet respectively. 4. A claim for 964.59 acre-feet In Elkhead Creek Reservoir was filed on May 18, 1967, by the Colorado Game, Fish, and Parks Commission with a priority date of October I, 1966, (see attached fil ing #23044). Since this filing was made, the recreational reservoir has been designed for a much larger size of 5,389 acre- feet and conditional water rights were obtained on May 30, 1972. An appropria- tion date of October I, 1966, was granted by the District Court in Craig. Elkhead Creek Reservoir is within Irrigation Division #6 and Water District #44. 5. Downstream of the Elkhead Creek Reservoir site there are two irrigation ditches which have absolute water decrees for about 57 cfs. These are known as the Norvell and Smith Ditches. The Norvall Ditch is the senior control I ing water right on Elkhead Creek and water calls often originate from it. This ditch has decrees for 30 cfs although Its actual water use and physical ditch capacity is unknown. 6. The Starr Ditch headgate is located on Elkhead Creek upstream of the poten- tial damsite and would be inundated by the reservoir. This ditch has an irri- gation decree for 6.1 cfs. The dam design must make provision for ,continued diversion of water into the Starr Ditch. 7. Upstream of the Elkhead Creek Reservoir site there are from ten to 15 small irrigation ditches which have water right decrees for about 50 cfs. Actual diversion of water is probably less than this because of return flow and the fact that some of these ditches are probably Inactive. 8. Upstream of the reservoir site there is a senior conditional decree for the Great Northern Project held by the Colorado River Water Conservation District. This large project has an appropriation date of August 7, 1962, and represents a potential, large depletion to the physical water supply of Elkhead Creek. The fil ing for this project is attached with this letter (see Filing #22178) and shows the project facil ities. On the headwaters of Elkhead Creek is Cal i- fornia Park Reservoir for 36,536.1 acre-feet. In addition, there are direct flow diversions from the mainstem of Elkhead Creek and from the North Fork amounting to 145 cfs each. If this project was actually completed, it would have a significant impact on water availability at the Elkhead Creek Reservoir. 9. Since Elkhead Creek is a tributary of the Yampa River basin, water rights on the Yampa River can affect the potential reservoir. Under present water use conditions in the Yampa River basin, water calls from the Yampa River down- stream of the Elkhead Creek confluence do not go up Elkhead Creek. Presently, there are few water rights on the lower Yampa. As you know, the Juniper Project is located on the Yampa River downstream of Craig and involves large water claims. \