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<br />I <br /> <br />." <br />. I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />BOX ELDER CREEK WATERSHED <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Box Elder Creek is some 100 miles long from its headwaters in El Paso <br />County to its confluence with the South Platte River near Kuner, Colorado <br />(see map, Figure 2). Box Elder Creek is also known as Running Creek in <br />Elbert and EI Paso Counties. Its highest elevation is approximately 7,400 <br />feet in EI Paso County and it lowest elevation is approximately 4,550 feet <br />at its confluence with the South Platte River. At Bootleg Reservoir, the <br />drainage area of the Box Elder Creek/Running Creek watershed is <br />approximately 270 square miles. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />In Elbert County, Running Creek may flow with considerable frequency. <br />However, there are no streamflow measurement records available to <br />substantiate this assumption. The amount of groundwater withdrawal from <br />the Box Elder Creek alluvium in Elbert County is not known, al though <br />estimates could be made based on data available from the State Engineer's <br />office and field verification. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />As Running Creek turns into Box Elder Creek in Arapahoe and Adams <br />Counties, the flow is much less frequent and normally occurs only in time <br />of flood. Groundwater withdrawals do occur in this reach, probably at a <br />rate exceeding the natural recharge rate into the alluvial aquifer. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Bootleg Reservoir, now breached, is located in northern Adams County. <br />Immediately below the dam, the Denver Hudson Canal (owned and operated by <br />the Henrylyn Irrigation District) crosses the Box Elder Creek channel. <br />From this point north to the South Platte confluence, Box Elder Creek flows <br />are variable but much more frequent than above the dam. Nearly all of <br />these flows can be attributed to the importation, runoff and return flow of <br />the South Platte water delivered via the Denver Hudson and Farmer's <br />Reservoir and Irrigation Company (FRICO) systems. A significant <br />contribution to Box Elder Creek is seepage from Horse Creek Reservoir, <br />located on a side channel of Box Elder Creek. A Parshall flume, installed <br />below Klug Reservoir, showed a wintertime base flow of approximately 4 cfs <br />in February 1987. This flow typically dissipates a few miles north of the <br />flume where Box Elder Creek is again a dry creek bed through most of the <br />year. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />The channel of Box Elder Creek has been drastically altered in the <br />reach below Klug Reservoir. The Box Elder Drainage District has rerouted <br />the stream as a means of solving some seepage problems. Seepage delivered <br />to the stream creates a continuous flow in the northernmost 10 or 12 mile <br />length of Box Elder Creek. About 4 miles above the confluence with the <br />South Platte River, the Latham Ditch is flumed across Box Elder Creek. The <br />creek bed also serves as a lateral for the Lower Latham Ditch Company. A <br />separate company, the Box Elder Flood Waste and Seepage Ditch No.2, also <br />owns rights in Box Elder Creek to divert the natural flows at that point. <br />Finally, Box Elder Creek discharges into the Empire Inlet Canal and is <br />carried in the Canal for about 1,000 feet. Then, it is discharged to the <br />South Platte River. When Empire Reservoir is filling, Box Elder Creek <br />flows are probably delivered to the Reservoir. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />2 <br />