PROJ00533

• Contract/PO #: C153367
• Contractor Name: International Engineering Company
• Water District: 0
• County: Rio Blanco
• Bill Number: XB 99-999
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

All senior absolute storage rights are either below the Coal Creek
on tributaries where their operation is reflected in existing
records. Therefore, they have been assumed to have negligible effects on
the YJWCD rights.

gage or
streamflow

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below the Ye,llow Jacket Canal diversion point is approximately 1200 cfs.
The senior cbsolute storage rights in the basin constitute about 12, ~OO
acre-feet.

The senior water rights evaluation 'in this study was directed toward
quantifying the volume and timing of the flows which must be left in the
White River to ensure that downstream senlor water ri ghts wou 1 d h,ive
sufficient supplies. Close examination of the streamflow records, which
were assumed to reflect the effect of th.e diversions and return flows,
indicated that the White River below the Coal Creek gage is a "gaining
river" durin'l all but a few months of record. The exceptions occur dur'ing
the high runoff periOd of May and June when there are ample supplies in the
river, or during the winter months when only a small percentage of the
senior water rights are diverting. It was found, even when the flow VIas
reduced to zero at the Coal Creek gage location. (five miles upstream of
Meeker), that there would be sufficient supplies from return flows and
tributary inflows to meet all senior absolute water right demands downstream
from that point. However, such a reduction of flow is not contemplated.

The sum of the direct diversion rights between the confluence of the North
and South Forks and the Coal Creek gage is approximately 450 cfs. It is
those rights which could require the YJWCD to bypass flows during periods of
short supply. The quantification of the monthly volume represented by this
450 cfs will be discussed in a later chapter covering the operation studies.

Senior Conditional Water Rights
Of primary C01cern in this study are the 44 conditional water rights in the
basin with a priority higher than the YJWCD senior rights. Taken togethel",
these rights ,:ould divert 480 cfs and store 12,500 acre-feet of water. Many
of the rights are very small. The 14 largest rights represent 94 percent of

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