WSPC07505

• File Number: 8040.950
• Description: Section D General Studies - General Water Studies
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 4/30/1982
• Title: High Plains Study - Six-State High Plains Study Recommendations - With Response
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

;\ ;) ,14 3 3

..._.a:..,.Ll:I'Y '""'VA:...

SUBJECT TO REVISION

in 1990 would be limited to 80 percent of that which would have been used in the
voluntary conservation case; and the quantity in 2000 and beyond to 2020 would be
limited to 70 percent of that quantity which would have been used during the period
2000 to 2020 in the voluntary conservation case. The projected results of this limitation
of annual water supply to the agricultural sectors in 2020 is presented as a comparison
to the Baseline .Case below.

1. Agricultural production:
Generally decreased (7.9 percent reduced value) because of limitations on
water use. Regional wheat production remains relatively stable compared
to the Baseline Case, while corn, cotton and soybean production is projected
to decline;
Total value of production is lower, but proportionately less than regional
crop production because the reduction in agricultural production in the
High Plains forees national crop prices to increase;
Total returns to land, water, and management for the Region are reduced
(7.3 pereent) relative to Baseline Case projections, but not quite as much
as decreases in total value of production.

~:;

2. Remaining ground water supplies and irrigated acreage:
. The quantity of water remaining in storage in 2020 is 123.7 million
acre-feet (5.3 percent) greater than in the Baseline Case;
Relatively little change in irrigated acreage would be expected during the
Study period; in the early years, irrigated lands are less than in the
Baseline Case, but by 2020, lands under irrigation would be 0.6 percent
greater than in the Baseline Case.

3. Regional economy:
Total projected value added for the Region in 2020 is 2.1 percent below
Baseline Case projections-4.0 percent in the North, and 1.0 percent in
the South.

Voluntary Conservation of Ollallala Water Combined With Imported Water

Whereas in the previously described cases the SOUl'Ce of water available for use
is the Ogallala aquifer, in this case, analyses are made of a case in which the Ogallala
aquifer would be supplemented with imported water in sufficient quantities to maintain
irrigated acreage at the levels observed in 1977. The study methods and data are the
same as those described earlier, with the exception that the water supply available
for use in each subarea is adequate to sustain irrigated acreage at the 1977 levels;
however, no charge has been included for the cost of imported water. Thus, the
resulting income estimates are a measure of the returns to imported water. The
results are presented for the year 2020 in the form of comparisons with the projected
results of the Baseline Case.

1. Agricultural production:
Significant increase (14.8 percent) in value of crop production, since water
would be available for all acreages irrigated in 1977;
Wheat, the principal dryland crop, would decline by 7.5 percent with the
availability of imported water for producing higher-valued crops;

-7-