WSP03204

• File Number: 8460.500
• Description: Platte River Recovery Plan - SPDSS Studies ‎(see also 8483)‎
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 1/1/1998
• Author: Colorado State Univ.
• Title: South Platte Mapping and Analysis Program ‎(SPMAP)‎ First Edition User Manual - Version 1.4
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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Introduction

1.0

Introduction

Water managers in the South Platte River Basin have a need to improve the quantity and quality of
spatial data modeling and analysis in the South Platte River Basin. These data can be used by water
managers to detennine the amount of water currently being used in the South Platte, the source of the water
(surface water or groundwater), and the impacts that this water use has on the river,

The Integrated Decision Support (IDS) Group (a research group at Colorado State University) has been
working on a project called "South Platte Model Evaluation Project." This effort was designed to bring
together data collection efforts and explore common modeling approaches for the South Platte River Basin
in Colorado, An advisory committee has been formed called the "South Platte Advisory Committee" with
the following representatives:

. Jon Altenhofen - Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and the South Platte Lower River
Group, Inc.

. Ray Bennett - State Engineers Office (Denver)

. James Hall- State Engineers Office (Greeley)

. Forrest Leaf - Central Colorado Water Conservancy District

. Jack Odor - Groundwater Appropriators of the South Platte

This committee has met regularly since mid-1995 to evaluate currently available data, data development
needs, and water resource modeling strategies for the South Platte River Basin. The South Platte Advisory
Committee has been promoting "modular" development based on a data-centered approach. This means that
data should be generic and developed in such a way that all modeling efforts can use the same data. Tools
have also been developed to model Consumptive Use (CU) for the South Platter River Basin to determine
the amount of water that is being augmented from groundwater sources, and the impact this water use may
be having on the quantity of water in the South Platte River. Based on information provided by the advisory
committee members, the development of GIS themes for well location and streamflow depletion factors
(SDFs) was started and has now been expanded to include other useful map themes. ArcView version 3.0
was selected for the model platform; an extension to ArcView using the Avenue scripting language was
constructed. The South Platte Mapping and Analysis Program (SPMAP) will eventually be merged into a
more general system for the South Platte that is comparable to Decision Support Systems (DSS) for other
basins in Colorado.

Version 1.4

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