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l SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS t J . 1. Water District 2 serves as a strategic link between mountain and front range tributary areas and downstream plains areas of the South Platte' Basin. Because of this location, water users within Water District 2 are dependent upon inflow from several sources and at several locations. Thus, they experience quite different water supply situations within the various reaches from year to year. Urbanization is rapidly taking ploce in the districts above Water District 2, as well as in the upper section of Weter District 2. " 2. River water sup~ The amount of river water available for diversion under direct-flow decrees held by Water District 2 ditches has changed over the years. Some ditches in the upper portion of the Water District have experienced a reduction in diversions of direct-flow water, whereas some ditches in the lower portion have been diverting an'increas- ing amount during recent years. 3. Reservoir water~~ The amount of water remaining in storage within Water District 2 after the close of the irrigation season has been increasing over recent years, although the amount in storage at the begin- ning of the season does not show this trend. " 4. Groundwater supply. A reservoir containing approxim2.tely 1.3 mill ion acre-feet of groundwater underlies the ",ain stem of the 'South Platte River in Weter District 2. In addition, an estimated 320,000 acre- feet of groundwater underlies Beebe Draw between Barr Lake and Latham Reservoir, giving a total of some 1.6 million acre-feet of groundwater in Water District 2. During an average year less than 10% (120,000 to 140,000 acre-feet) of this storage capacity is actively used. During years of heavy pumping (such as 1954 and 1956) the amount withdrawn hilS reached 200,000 to 210,000 acre-feet within Weter District 2. ! 5. Inflow, return flow and outflow cheracterislLcs. The relation- ship of inflow to outflow of surface water for Water District 2 has not changed significantly on an annual basis. However, noticeable changes have occurred during certain parts of the year--porticulilrly late summer and fall--indicating that the return flow pattern has been chon~ing during recent years. This chan~e sLlTted in 1953 for November and Decem- ber, but not until the early 1960's during the summer months. The average annual depletion (inflow-outflow) for the Water District is obout 126,000 acre-feet, some of which is transported to the Box Elder and Prospect Valleys. ,- 6. Source and extent of water utilization data. Data and estimates of water used were obtained from a Farm Water Utilization Study prepared by the Bureau of Reclamation for the Narrows Project. The study \'Ias for the IS-year period from 1947 to 1961, inclusive. It covered 17 of the canals which divert water for irrigation from the South Platte Riv9r in W.ter District 2." r" ,-~\ 7. Irriqated acre2qe. The Bureau estimated a total of 12~,635 acres as being irrigated by the 17 canals and/or by pumping from ground- wuter sources. Estimates from other 50UrCGS show considerable discrep- ancy for the irrigated acreage under individual canals.