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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I LOWER ARKANSAS WATER MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION The Lower Arkansas Water Management Association is a non-profit corporation that was formed in 1973 for the primary purpose of providing replacement water to allow its members to operate their wells under the 1973 Rules and Regulations without curtailment. This purpose has evolved somewhat with the recent rulings by the Special Master and U.S. Supreme Court in Kansas v. Colorado to consist of the development of a program to replace well depletions both to Colorado surface rights and to usable flow at the Colorado-Kansas Stateline. Also, LAWMA is interested in conserving irrigation, municipal, and commercial water supplies; in encouraging additional agricultural production through better water management; and in making relatively small quantities of water available for future municipal and commercial development in its service area. Originally, when LAWMA was formed, its members operated about 300 wells. Its membership has grown steadily since that time. At present, LAWMA has 170 members who own or operate 551 wells. Of this total membership, 150 are irrigation members who own or operate 429 wells, 14 are municipal members who own or operate 95 wells, and 6 are commercial members who own or operate 27 wells. The pumpage and depletions from these wells are covered in later sections of this report. LAWMA's primary service area is the Arkansas River main stem area below John Martin Dam, although LAWMA has a few members who own or operate wells in the main stem area above John Martin Dam and a few who own or operate wells outside of the main stem area. In this study, the "main stem area" extends on both sides of the Arkansas River to one mile beyond the limit of the valley fill aquifer as mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey or to the highest ditch or canal, whichever is furthest from the river. This definition is consistent with the modeling done by both Colorado and Kansas for Kansas v. Colorado. Plates 1 and 2 portray LAWMA's primary service area and show the locations of the ditches and reservoirs and most of the large-capacity wells therein. LAWMA's initial source of replacement water was a series of wells constructed in the Arkansas River alluvium during 1974-76 as part of the "Buffalo Demonstration Project". These wells were constructed with funding from the Four Corners Regional Commission under the supervision of the Colorado Division of Water Resources. They were located on the north 6