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<br />made ducing the nonirrigation season when water from cross <br />drainages and irrigation return flows are collected in the <br />canal and then "wasted" back to Big Sandy Creek at the Amity <br />Canal crossing. This practice of wasting water has not <br />alway~ been consistent. In some years, the Amity dumps <br />water at its crossing with the May Valley Drain instead of <br />the Big Sandy Creek. Also, in some dry years, the Amity has <br />not wasted any water in the winter either because there is <br />very little drainage, water is collected in the canal, or <br />some water users divert available water from the canal for <br />winter irrigation. Therefore, without proper adjustment, <br />the Big Sandy streamflow records should not be used to <br />reflect tributary inflow. <br />The index flow used for the mass diagram analysis was <br />comprised of the adjusted streamflow of the Arkansas River <br />at Canon City and the streamflow of the Purgatoire River <br />near Las Animas. This selection was made for several <br />reaSons including: 1) Normally, the majority of the inflow <br />into the Arkansas River occurs from runoff above the Canon <br />City gage and, aside from transmountain diversions (for <br />which adjustment is made), the flow at the Canon City gage <br />represents natural streamflows which are generally unaf- <br />fected by development; 2) The addition of the Purgatoire <br />River flows represents the contribution of tributary inflows <br />below the Canon City gage. The Purgatoire River i's the <br />largest tributary below Canon City and is an appropriate <br />indicator of the type of inflows from other tributaries <br />below Canon City; and 3) The two gages used for the index <br />-28- <br />