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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />years by other water users. including the Smith Cattle Company and the Reid Cattle <br />Company. <br /> <br />Well development for irrigation purposes began in earnest during the drought of the <br />early 1950's and additional wells were drilled until about 1972. The State Engineer's <br />Office conducted an extensive field reconnaissance of the Horse Creek Basin water rights <br />in 1989. It was found that the degree or intensity of irrigation in the basin varies widely <br />from full water supply situations to areas which are marginally irrigated. receiving water <br />only after flood events. Surface water rights accounted for approximately 35 percent of <br />the basin's irrigation consumptive use and wells accounted for approximately 65 percent. <br /> <br />At the present time. it is estimated that approximately 5,000 acres are irrigated <br />with well water. Approximately 90 percent of these lands are irrigated by current HCWUA <br />members. <br /> <br />The State Engineer promulgated rules and regulations in 1995 for regulation of <br />groundwater use in the Arkansas River basin, including the Horse Creek basin. The <br />proposed rules and regulations are hereinafter referred to as the. Arkansas Rules.. During <br />hearings in April 1996. the Water Court confirmed the Arkansas Rules for the remainder <br />of the Arkansas River basin, but issues related to Horse Creek were postponed for separate <br />hearings to be held in April 1997. The Water Court determined in August 1996, that <br />pumping of wells in the Horse Creek basin does not deplete the water supply for Kansas <br />under the Arkansas River Compact or deplete water supplies on the Arkansas River in <br />Colorado. Therefore, the only depletions of concern are those that occur within the Horse <br />Creek basin at or above the point of diversion of the Box Springs Canal. The only known <br />water rights within the Horse Creek basin that claim to have been affected by well <br />depletions are those of Box Springs, Smith, and Reid. The question of whether wells <br />within the Horse Creek basin may be curtailed under the Arkansas Rules for the benefit of <br />senior surface water rights in the Horse Creek basin remains to be determined. <br /> <br />3 <br />