WSPC02080 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

OJllD5 Draft - 9/81 region as the amount of water pumped from existing wells de- creases and the water table drops further. For this reason, although It is theoretically possible, no further expansion of agricultural acreage is predicted for the Northern High Plains. Second, some people bel ieve that addtt ional transbasin diversions from the Colorado River Basin to the Platte Region would provide water for expansion of irrigated acreage. They maintain that the amount of water that is diverted but not con- sumed by municipalities will enter the priority system after being discharged by the municipalities' waste treatment plants. This water could then be used by downstream appropriators. But there is a problem of timing. Municipalities presumably would discharge water all year. The amount of water discharged would equal net water intake minus net consumption. During the winter, all available storage facilities in the South Platte River system are usually filled. For this reason, and because little irriga- tion is done during the winter, additional municipal outflow could not be used effectively without additional storage; it would most likely find its way across the state line. In the spring and summer, moreover, the demand for irrigat ion water is greatest and the storage facilities in the Platte River system become depleted. Municipal discharges at this time could aid certain junior water rights holders or certain ditch companies, but without additional storage it is unlikely that the water supplies would be dependable enough to spur an expansion of irri- gated agricultural acreage. An) additional supplies almost cer- tainl) would be applied as supplemental irrigation rather than to 2 ) ....... /'