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<br />181:1 <br /> <br />Exchanges <br /> <br />Operation of the water bank and river exchanges must not injure other water rights on the river. <br />Those water rights must be protected from injury, There are no intervening ditches between the <br />headgate of the FLC and the headgate of the FlSC, but there are numerous ditches between the <br />headgate of the FLC and Pueblo Reservoir. By eJlchanging through the section of the river between <br />the two FL headgates during the winter, the injury concerns would be substantially reduced. <br /> <br />Essential to the water bank's continued future operation is the opportunity to exchange water <br />without injury to other water rights holders. Because other appropriators have and will also seek <br />exchange decrees, which may eventually absorb the remaining exchange opportunity on the Arkansas <br />River, the water bank should apply for an exchange decree. <br /> <br />A detailed study of return flow requirements and assurances is very important. Because the basic <br />conditions necessary to protect other ditches between the FLC headgate and Pueblo Reservoir were <br />inserted in Aurora's Rocky Ford Ditch change decree (Colorado District Court 1983), no additional <br />exchange conditions are necessary for a considerably more junior water bank exchange to Pueblo <br />Reservoir, <br /> <br />Legal Constraints of FLee <br /> <br />Other shareholders, particularly those served by the same lateral as a participating shareholder, must <br />not be injured by the removal of water from the ditch, Instances of increased seepage and lost head <br />must be hydraulically compensated. The FLCC would need to be satisfied that its shareholders are <br />not being injured, and could be compensated for any additional costs arising from operation of the <br />water bank. Initially, these costs could be significant, but are expected to become less as a <br />satisfactory methodology for conducting water bank operations is established, Offsetting some or <br />all of these costs has been addressed in the financial analysis section. The consulting hydrologist for <br />the FLCC might need to review and approve certain aspects of the water bank operations. <br /> <br />A. Bylaws and Decrees <br /> <br />FLCC bylaws currently restrict the use of shares. The FLCC decrees are for irrigation uses. <br />Those decree restrictions should not inhibit operation of the water bank under a temporary <br />substitute supply plan, but existing decree language will need to be amended in the <br />permanent decree to allow for other water uses under the water bank. <br /> <br />B. Winter Storage Water <br /> <br />Under the Winter Water Storage Program, the ncc stores water in Adobe and Horse <br />Creek Reservoirs during the period from November 15 to March 15 of each year. While the <br />FLCC can store water in Pueblo Reservoir if other winter storage program participants do <br />not need the space, it seldom does so because it does not want to pay the monetary storage <br />charge in Pueblo Reservoir. The FLCe typically uses its winter water to supplement its <br /> <br />7-9 <br />