WSP04368

• File Number: 8407
• Description: Platte River Basin - River Basin General Publications
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 7/17/1961
• Author: J M Dille
• Title: Lower South Platte Water Supplies
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Assuming these "guesstimates" as somewhere near right, nearly

450,000 acre-feet arell.pplied annually to the 130,000 total of irrigated

land, about 3.5 acre-feet per acre in addition to the rainfall.

However, the consumptive use is only 119,000 acre-feet or 26% of the

total applied. Putting it another way, the return flows in the District of

304,000 acre-feet are about 2! times the consumptive use.

The official records indicate an even lower consumptive use in

District Si3ty-four.

liith an average recorded discharge of 258,000 acre-feet at Balzac
and 319,000 at Julesburg, the river actually gains 61,000 acre-feet over alid

above the diversions.

Diversions for direct use of 188,600 acre-feet and 17,600 for storage
(Julesburg Reservoir) total 206,200. Adding this to the Julesburg flow
and subtracting the Balzac discharge, we get 267,200 acre-feet as the avel'f;ge,j
return flow, in the 75 miles of river, an average of about 5.0 a.F.S. per mil.le~

This can be partly explained by the occasional flood waters in

several tributary streams but from averages computed from records kept by the!

llater Commissioner, they I"ould not affect the results more than 2 or 3%.

The table below summarizes the operation of the three reservoirs.
Capacity Av. Av. ~ "
Diverted Dischar e D"y.i
10. Sterling 87, 400 89,300 62,880 72 70
Preld tt 32,300 43,100 11,140 35 25
Julesburg 28,180 17,490 15,210 54 $6
141 880 149 900 89 230 62
Loss 60,700 38 41.

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