Laserfiche WebLink
<br />O~1502 <br />. <br /> <br />In the project area, historic diversions have averaged 53,200 <br /> <br />acre-feet per year. This total is composed of 51,700 acre-feet <br /> <br />diverted from the Purgatoire River and 1,500 acre-feet from small <br /> <br />arroyos which are intercepted by the Model Ditch. <br />Several factors have limited the effectiveness of these historic <br /> <br />diversions. No storage facilities, except Model, have been available <br /> <br />for any of the systems. Lacking storage facilities, the water users <br /> <br />have made diversions whenever water was available, regardless of <br /> <br />whether or not it could have been used more beneficially further <br /> <br />downstream or at a later date. Because of this practice, historic <br /> <br />diversions were related more closely to stream flows than to crop <br /> <br />requirements. <br /> <br />In addition to erratic stream flows and late priority dates of <br /> <br />the rights, severe depletion of storage space in the Model Reservoir <br /> <br />has contributed greater uncertainty to the Model water supply. <br /> <br />Additional sedimentation reduces the already depleted storage space <br /> <br />each year. Therefore, the Model supply will become even more un- <br /> <br />certain as time goes by. <br /> <br />Because supplies have been undependable, a large part of the <br /> <br />historic diversions were made at times when not actually needed to <br /> <br />meet requirements for crop growth. Thus, the practice of over- <br /> <br />diversion has prevailed even though the water supply for the area has <br />been critically short. Of the total annual diversion, diversions made <br />to coincide with actual crop requirements averaged 37,300 acre-feet. <br /> <br />The remaining diversions, amounting to 15,900 acre-feet per year, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />n-31 <br />