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<br /> <br />o <br />" ") <br />.' <br />fJl <br />tV <br />;:;~ <br /> <br />"The well data indicates that ground water levels are approximately the same <br />.at the beginning of each irrigation season. Uniformity of diversions indicates <br />that there are no extreme variations in supply to cause material or even mod- <br />erate changes in ground water storage. There is always slight change in <br />ground water levels, but it is felt that correction for this item would be very <br />minor and 'can be neglected. " <br /> <br />These wells cover an area of about 110 sq. mi.' and show an average fluctuation <br />of 12.8' assuming 40% voids in the soUs filled with ground water, it would re. <br />quire about 316, 000 acre feet of water to account for tha.t rise. It went some- <br />where, for the wells were down again by the middle of winter. It would be <br />reasonable to assume that a cOi1siderable portion of this water got into the main <br />Gunnison River and since no measurements were made on that stream, this was <br />charged to consumptive use. . <br /> <br /> <br />By applying the Engineering Advisory Committee's estimate of consumptive use <br />for Colorado River Basin crops to those grown in the St. Vrain Valley,. it would. <br />show 7,000 acre feet more water consumed than was diverted from the stream <br />in a year with a 100% ample water right. <br /> <br />Applying this estimate of consumptive use to the crops grown in the South Platte <br />Basin in 1956, it would show BOO, 000 acre feet more water consumed'thanwas <br />supplied to the area. <br /> <br />In the South Platte Water Conservancy District case in the Greeley District <br />Court, a very sucoessful farmer from the Prospect Valley area testified that <br />he produced 28 tons of beets to the acre by the application of only 12 inches <br />of pumped water. . This include.d surface runoff, wasted water reaching the <br />underground and evaporation and transpiration. Using the Blaney formulae <br />adopted by the, Engineering Advisory Committee, l7.,4.inches of water would <br />be consumed $lone in the irrigation of an acre of beets. <br /> <br />A good example of the fallacy of using tank expedments to arrive ata formula <br />for consumptive use, would be a bunch of lUys from the Ariaona desert that <br />were picked arid put in a vase filled with water and set on a piano. The next <br />morning all the water in the vase had been syphoned out and deposited on the <br />keys. In nature this lUy gets its moisture by drawing it from a. fibrous beet. <br />like bulb, located a. foot or two below the ground surface, which if crushed <br />might hold 1/20 pint of water. From the vase test, one might conclude the <br />lily would consume 10 gallons of water instead of maybe a cup full during the <br />season. It has now been shown that if man, by the irrigation of a relatively <br />small area of the Basin in Colorado has consumed, destroyed, or as Tipto~ <br />a consulting engineer for the Engineering Advisory Committee, put it, "burnt <br />up", some 884, 000 ac:re feet per year through the use of a theoretical formula, <br />it can also now be shown that by the use of a somewhat simUar formula, that <br />man by his other activities in the Basin, such as overgral1ling the range lands, <br />cutting the timber, etc. has increased the stream flow over what it was before <br /> <br />..16.. <br /> <br />- <br />