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<br />On,-~? <br />u~auw <br /> <br />STATEWIDE <br /> <br />PROJECT TITLE: Statewide Water-Use Inventory (fig. 2) <br /> <br />COOPERATING AGENCY: Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water <br />Resources, Office of the State Engineer <br /> <br />PROJECT CHIEF: R. Theodore Hurr, District Office, Lakewood <br /> <br />PERIOD OF PROJECT: Continuous since October 1977 <br /> <br />Problem.--Vater-use data in Colorado are not complete and detailed enough for <br />planning purposes and implementation of a' State Water Plan. The sources of water <br />supplies, where and for what purposes water is being used, and the volume of water <br />being consumed or available for multiple use need to be documented so that State <br />and local managers and planners may be better able to make decisions regarding <br />development of the State's water resources. <br /> <br />Objectives.--Develop an inventory procedure to obtain both current and future <br />water-use data. Develop a computerized data base that can be accessed by a vari- <br />ety of users. <br /> <br />Approach.--Obtain water-use data by contacting users either in person or by <br />mail, soliciting their cooperation, and determining what data they are collecting. <br />If they are already collecting water-use data, ask them to complete a question- <br />naire in which water-use data are tabulated. If they are'not collecting water-use <br />data,'devise techniques for converting available data into water equivalent water- <br />use data or suggest techniques for collecting water-use data. <br /> <br />Progress.--A State data base has been created for storage and retrieval of <br />water-use data. Data accumulated include: Water-rights tabulation; surface- <br />water distribution maps; irrigated-acreage tabulation; and total yields of wells <br />by county, township, irrigation district, and State water division. All major <br />municipalities in the State have agreed to provide water-use and Standard <br />Industrial Classification data. Thirty-one util ity companies having irrigation <br />accounts have agreed to provide energy-consumption data for use in estimating <br />ground-water withdrawals. These data have been aggregated by irrigation method <br />and by township. Data have been collected on the quantity of energy consumed to <br />produce water from several hundred wells. The data will be employed to determine <br />the amount of ground water pumped when the energy consumption is known. <br /> <br />Plans.--Collection of data will continue on municipal-water use and on sur- <br />face-water diversions and ground-water pumpage for irrigation. A data base will <br />be made operational at the State level. Data-collection programs will be set up <br />for other water-use categories. <br /> <br />11 <br />