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<br />n <br />, . <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />The terminology used in this report currently (l985) is used among <br />irrigators, water commissioners, water managers, hydrologists, hydrographers, <br />water-resource technicians, and others with water-related occupations in the <br />Arkansas River basin of Colorado. Because some of these terms are not widely <br />used in other parts of the Nation, a glossary has been provided. <br /> <br />Purpose and Scope <br /> <br />In a semiarid region like the Arkansas River basin of Colorado, water <br />that originates in the basin, and water that is imported from outside the <br />basin, are used and reused many times. The u.S. Geological Survey currently <br />(1985) is developing a comprehensive surface- and ground-water model of the <br />Arkansas River drainage basin in Colorado. To accomplish this task, a <br />description of the water-systems operations in the basin is essential. This <br />report describes the system of surface-water diversions, the transmountain <br />imports and exports, the regulation of flows by on-stream and off-stream <br />reservoirs, and the various water exchanges that are used in the Arkansas <br />River as of 1983. <br /> <br />Administration of water in Colorado is the responsibility of the Colorado <br />State Engineer; administration of Arkansas River water is delegated t~ the <br />Division Engineer, Colorado Water Division 2, who is assisted by Water <br />Commissioners in each of the 13 local water districts (pl. 1). Colorado Water <br />Division 2 covers the entire Arkansas River basin in Colorado. Regulation of <br />water is provided by the State Constitution and laws and statutes of the <br />State, and by their interpretation in numerous court decisions. This report <br />is not concerned with the legal aspects of systems operation, only the result <br />of that legal regulation. The operations of the larger systems, those in <br />which sizable quantities of water are involved, are described, and the more <br />complex operations are described in detail, regardless of their water quanti- <br />ties. For example, an irrigation ditch with an early direct-flow water right <br />that diverts water from a river and transports it directly by gravity in a <br />canal to nearby farm plots for irrigation, is a simple operation, regardless <br />of the quantity of water involved. If, however, the water was diverted from <br />the river at the canal headgate, at a time when the canal's direct flow right <br />was not in priority, and the river then was made whole at some point down- <br />stream by release of stored water from the diverter's storage right, then that <br />complex system may be given a more thorough description in this paper, regard- <br />less of the volume of water involved. <br /> <br />Recently, a profusion of so-called "plans for augmentation" has devel- <br />oped. Although these plans are sufficiently complex to warrant detailed <br />description, most of them involve only minor quantities of water; therefore, <br />their description is not included in this paper. <br /> <br />In describing the water systems in operation in the Arkansas River basin, <br />constant reference is made to canals, ditches, tunnels, conduits, dams, and <br />reservoirs, and some statistical description of these various features is <br />given. A more detailed description of each of these features (location, size, <br />purpose, owner, and so forth) is provided in the Supplemental Data section at <br />the end of the report. <br /> <br />3 <br />