Laserfiche WebLink
<br />3'J., <br /> <br />GROUND WATER <br /> <br />Ground water supplies in Water District No, 8 are derived from deep wells <br />which penetrate the Fox HI lIs, Arapahoe and Dawson-Arkose formations and <br />from shallow wells drilled into the alluvial fi II of the South Platte River <br />and its tributaries, such as Cherry Creek and Plum Creek, Deep wells are <br />generally of law capacity with average yields of less than 75 gpm, while <br />shallow or alluvial wells generally yield several hundred gallons per minute, <br />and some have been reported with yields exceeding 2,000 gpm. For purposes <br />of classification wells of reported yield of more than 100 gpm and less than <br />200 feet in depth are defined herein as alluvial wells, with all wells not <br />meeting these criteria being defIned as non-alluvial wells. <br /> <br />The type and use of wells in Water District No.8 is summarized in Table 16, <br />which shows that use of ground water for irrigation is considerably greater <br />than for municipal use and is dependent primarily on alluvial wells, Table <br />17 contains data on the number and reported yield of wells classified by <br />use and year of all wells registered with the State Engineer, while Tables <br />18 and 19 contain the same data for alluvial and non-alluvial wells respec. <br />tively. The chronological increase in the number of wells used far irriga- <br />tion is shown in Figure 2 and the corresponding increase in the reported <br />yield of irrigation wells is shown in Figure 3. These figures illustrate <br />that prior to 1945 well use was relatively minar, whereas after that date <br />a rather sharp increase in use of ground water far irrigation took place <br />and which has decreased significantly since 1966. <br /> <br /> TABLE 16 <br /> SUMMIIRY OF WELLS IN WATER DISTRICT NO. 8 <br /> Municipal I rriqation All Other Total <br />Type No. GPM No. GPM No. GPM No. GPM <br />(I) TIT (3) N (5) (6J (7) (Ei) (9) <br />A lluvi al 47 50,090 223 153,216 59 27,420 329 230,726 <br />Non-A 11 uv I a I 55 5,113 78 9,247 2,221 35,937 2,354 50,297 <br />Tota I 102 55,203 301 162,463 2,280 63,357 2,683 281,023 <br /> <br />Municipal use of ground water within District No.8 is confined princi- <br />pally to the City of Littleton which receives water from alluvial and <br />non-alluvial wells. Other wells for municipal use would include those <br />previously drilled and abandoned and those in use by small water districts <br />and Independent water companies. Englewood uses ground water to supple- <br />ment its surface supply and to meet peak demands. Denver and Aurora also <br />have wells which are used for supplemental and stand-by supplies. <br /> <br />It is apparent that ground water does not playas significant a role in <br />the water supply for Water District No.8 as It does for other areas <br />further downstream in the Platte River;Bas'ln. From a study of well logs <br />and geologic cross sections at various points along the river, it has <br />been estimated that there is on the order of only 30,000 acre feet of <br />