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<br />. <br /> <br />002541 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />acre-feet per year. ~. Diversion requirements were based on a <br />"full water supply," that is, the amount of water needed for <br />"optimum crop production." RT Vol. 82 at 162. Colorado witnesses <br />consistently characterized the system as being "water short." RT <br />vol. 82 at 46, 263; RT Vol. 116 at 34; RT Vol. 65 at 127, 147, 152; <br />RT Vol. 71 at 81; RT Vol. 72 at 99-100; RT Vol. 76 at 42; RT Vol. <br />77 at 19; RT Vol. 82 at 163. <br /> <br />When permitted by their priority rights, canal companies <br />in Colorado frequently divert the full flow of the river. Canals <br />with senior rights like Fort Lyon often "sweep the river," that is, <br />take all the surface flow available at their headgates. RT Vol. 82 <br />at 43; RT Vol. 66 at 129; RT Vol. 78 at 124. Surface flow must <br />then be restored from return flows, precipitation, downstream <br />tributary inflow, and releases from downstream storage. That <br />becomes the supply for downstream users with later priorities. <br />Diversion and rediversion of normal streamflows sometimes leaves <br />long reaches of the river dry, or nearly so. Jt. Exh. 96, Vol. I <br />at 25. One Colorado expert testified that basically all of the <br />snowmelt is diverted or used in Colorado, either for irrigation or <br />by phreatophytes and reservoir evaporation. RT Vol. 66 at 36-38, <br />41. <br /> <br />Following World War II, the development of new well <br />technology (the high capacity turbine pump), together with the <br />availability of cheap power, led to a great increase in the number <br />of wells along the Arkansas River. Prior to 1957 a well could be <br /> <br />AL1366n <br /> <br />-61- <br />