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<br />O;)j285 <br /> <br />As illustrated by the water budget, an irrigation diversion results in depletions or <br />consumptive uses and return flows. Depletions can be further divided into intentional, <br />productive consumptive use and incidental, non-productive consumptive use. Return flows <br />may be direct (over the land surface) or more typically by underground flow following deep <br />percolation. <br /> <br />B. Definitions: <br /> <br />As the water budget demonstrates there can be a variety of water supply changes that <br />occur when irrigation efficiency is improved. It is important to be precise when discussing <br />a particular increment of the water involved. Terms must be consistent with accepted legal <br />and technical understandings. For that reason a glossary of legal and technical terms used <br />in describing water salvage and conservation is provided as Appendix C. The key technical <br />terms have already been discussed in the water budget description. These include <br />conveyance loss, depletion, deep percolation, evapo-transpiration, root zone, soil moisture, <br />and return flow. Legal terms will be discussed in Section IV below. <br /> <br />The terms "salvaged", "conserved", and "saved" water have been given specific <br />definitions in legislation brought before the General Assembly. These are: <br /> <br />saved water - "the amount of water which has been available to a direct flow water <br />right in priority, and which an applicant claims will no longer be <br />needed for diversion at the applicant's headgate because of <br />modernization ...." HE 91-1110 (House Committee on Agriculture, <br />Livestock, and Natural Resources Report January 31, 1991.) <br /> <br />salvaged water - "water which is part of an appropriated water supply that would be lost <br />to users of the water source as a result of evaporation, transpiration, <br />seepage, or otherwise and which is conserved or otherwise made <br />available to beneficial use.... The difference between historical <br />consumptive use and post-salvage consumptive use shall determine the <br />quantity of salvaged water." SB 84-161 (as introduced) <br /> <br />conserved water - "the quantative difference between the historic consumptive use of the <br />right and [the] lesser consumptive use ... no amount of water shall be <br />included which historical!y constituted waste, after taking into account <br />and giving effect to the then prevailing and accepted methods and <br />norms for the agricultural water use." sa 85-95 (as introduced); SB 86- <br />126 (as introduced) <br /> <br />Consistent with those definitions of "salvaged" water and "conserved" water and for the <br />sake of claritv, we will orJ., use the ;:-;;j ",~;:.;::ge" to describe re-ju<:t:ons in historical <br />" - <br />consumptive use, signifying the retrieval of water previously lost to the system through <br /> <br />5 <br />