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<br />O:.20C4 <br /> <br />would be a monumental task outside the scope of this report. The <br /> <br /> <br />omission of such data does not impair the value of this report, nor <br /> <br /> <br />does it mean that the upstream water rights have been overlooked. The <br /> <br /> <br />junior operating ditch, which always calls out the more junior ditches <br /> <br /> <br />above Canon City, is in the stretch of the river at and below the <br /> <br /> <br />Bessemer Canal headgate. A number of the junior rights in the lower <br /> <br /> <br />basin are large in amount, such as the one for 226 cfs of the Catl in <br /> <br /> <br />Canal and those for 165 and 597 cfs of the Fort Lyon Canal, and they <br /> <br /> <br />can and do call for water as juniors for long periods of time. <br /> <br /> <br />Because of such conditions, the water rights in the upper part of <br /> <br /> <br />the basin can and must be protected from excessive lower basin water <br /> <br /> <br />calls if and when such calls are caused by recent man-made works which <br /> <br /> <br />deplete the river flows and which are junior to the upper basin water <br /> <br /> <br />rights. This protection can, it is beleved, be realized by the develop- <br /> <br /> <br />ment of a formula and/or formulas in which the flows at Canon City <br /> <br /> <br />are used as an index in conjunction with the changed use of the lower <br /> <br /> <br />basin, to determine the call on the upper basin. This would permit <br /> <br /> <br />junior water rights in the upper basin to divert against senior water <br /> <br /> <br />rights in the lower basin, and rightly so. It is believed that this <br /> <br />Same method can be used in the South Platte River Basin to protect <br /> <br /> <br />junior water rights above the South Platte River gaging station at <br /> <br /> <br />Water ton or at South Platte. <br /> <br />In an effort to determine whether this approach was valid, Canon <br /> <br /> <br />City flows on a monthly basis were plotted against the flows at two <br /> <br /> <br />stations upstream which would not be affected by downstream calls. <br /> <br /> <br />The two stations selected were Half Moon Creek near Malta and the <br /> <br /> <br />Arkansas River at Granite. There are nO.diversions On Half Moon Creek <br /> <br /> <br />above Malta, but there are some diversions above the Granite gage for <br /> <br /> <br />municipal and agricultural use. The studies showed some increased flow <br /> <br /> <br />in recent years at Canon City when compared to the flow at the two up- <br /> <br /> <br />stream gages; the results were inconclusive. It, therefore, appears <br /> <br /> <br />that accurate formulas to cover these conditions can only be developed <br /> <br /> <br />by computer studies such as those now being undertaken by the U. S. <br /> <br /> <br />Geological Survey. <br /> <br />- 21 - <br />