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<br />00Q211 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />This study plan is with reference to the Colorado portion of a study <br />of the region overlying the Ogallala Aquifer in parts of the six states <br />of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The overall <br />regional study plan is detailed in a document prepared by the High Plains <br />Associates (the "General Contractor"), Interim Report: Six State High <br />Plains-Ogallala Aquifer Area Study dated January 15, 1979, The present <br />study plan adopts the classification of study elements provided in the above <br />report, This report deals with state element A-l in the High Plains <br />Associate Report, The general state sub-tasks are incorporated in Appendix <br />A of this Study Plan, <br />The Ogallala aquifer formation underlies portions of twelve counties <br />in eastern Colorado, A very rough prel iminary estimate suggests approxi- <br />mately one-half mill ion acres are under irrigation from this groundwater <br />source, Natural recharge is negligible, so that in the absence of large <br />scale importation of water from other sources, the irrigated portions of <br />the region face an eventual return to non-irrigated production, The <br />counties in Colorado which will be considered in the study are identified <br />in Figure 1 on the following page, <br />The principal crop in the study region is corn, accounting for some <br />75% of irrigated acreage, Hay accounts for another ten percent, and the <br />hillilnce is ilbout evenly divided between wheat, dry heans and sugar heets, <br />The non-irrigated crops in the nine-county area are estimated at 960,000 <br />acres, Nearly 90%, of this produces winter wheat, while the balance is in <br />