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<br />1061 <br /> <br />for periods of several weeks but in critical years it might last as long as two <br />months. Major crop damage would occur during such periods unless the wells <br />could be used for supplemental supplies. This appears to be a major defect in <br />Senate Bill 81 for it makes no provision for the use of wells during critical <br />periods when supplemental water is most needed. <br /> <br />Since the Oxford Farmers Ditch Company has no source of supplemental <br />water other than the groundwater reservoir, it is reasonable to assume that the <br />Division Engineer would permit all wells to operate during periods when the 1887 <br />decree is out of priority, if the depletion due to pumping were returned to the <br />river. This might be done by foregoing diversion of the 1867 decree or by <br />pumping selected wells directly into the river or by both if necessary. <br /> <br />U. S. Geological Survey data indicate that after two months of steady <br />pumping by all company and shareholder wells the maximum stream depletion rate <br />would be about 15 cfs. For shorter periods it would be much less, and in most <br />years the company-owned wells alone could supply sufficient water to replace the <br />depletion resulting from pumping all privately-owned wells. In fact, the best <br />use of the company-owned wells during critical periods would be to replace <br />pumping depletion because ditch losses would be eliminated and well capacity <br />would be increased to 10 or 12 cfs because of a material reduction in pumping <br />head. <br /> <br />In the light of the foregoing, during periods when the 1887 decree is <br />out of priority the following procedure should be adopted: <br /> <br />a. The ditch superintendent should be given full authority to replace <br />depletion according to his best judgment. <br /> <br />b. The ditch superintendent should be furnished appropriate time- <br />depletion curves similar to those on Figure 4 for use in determining depletion <br />due to well pumping. <br /> <br />c. For short periods the company-owned wells should pump directly into <br />the river to the extent necessary to replace depletion. <br /> <br />d. When the pumping period lasts so long that the depletion exceeds <br />the capacity of the company-owned wells, the deficiency should be made up by <br />pumping selected privately-owned wells directly into the river or a drain leading <br />to the river on order of the ditch superintendent. Another alternative would be <br />to forego diversion of the 1867 decree during such periods. <br /> <br />e. The Company should absorb the pumping costs for any privately- <br />owned wells used to replace stream depletion. <br /> <br />An alternative to the use of privately-owned wells for depletion replace- <br />ment would be another battery of company-owned wells further downstream. However, <br />water for depletion replacement will be available from the facilities of the <br />Fryingpan-Arkansas Project within a few years. With this possibility in sight <br />construction of another well battery at this time probably could not be justified. <br /> <br />This plan makes no provision for the several small tracts of land <br /> <br />- 24 - <br />