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<br />24 <br /> <br />June, 1962 <br /> <br />IR2 <br /> <br />generally are detailed enough to assist materially in solving local problems. <br />Such a study could provide the essential facts needed by litigants in a suit <br />between well users. It might show that a defendant's well had not appreciably <br />affected the plaintiff's supply, but had substantially reduced the artesian pres- <br />sure causing the wells to cease flowing and requiring pumping equipment to <br />restore the supply. Although the hydrologic facts might be clearly established, <br />the court might have difficulty deciding the case. The question that might be <br />argued is, "If the supply has not been changed, does the lowering of .artesian <br />pressure constitute grounds for damage claims?" <br />The solution of litigation problems such as these and those anticipated in <br />the future will require a broad application and understanding of ground-water <br />technology and, in the broader sense, the science of hydrology. Men in the <br />field of hydrology are helping the State to recodify its present water laws in <br />order to make them more compatible with the unChangeable physical laws. <br />Members of the scientific and legal professions should coordinate their ef- <br />forts in order that water-resources development may proceed at an undimin- <br />ished rate. <br /> <br />, <br />:,' <br /> <br />BENDER VERSUS THE CITY OF COLORADO SPRINGS <br /> <br />An example of ground-water technology and its coordination with legal pro- <br />ceedings is shown by the case of Bender versus the city of Colorado Springs. <br />It illustrates how a problem may be better evaluated if adequate facts are <br />made available, if consultants specialized in the field of hydrology are avail- <br />able to advise both sides, and if expert witnesses are available to explain and <br />testify to the facts. <br />The case of Bender versus the city of Colorado Springs was tried in the <br />District Court of Colorado Springs in January, 1960. Bender was seeking an <br />injunction to stop the city of Colorado Springs from pumping its wells, which <br />he claimed was preventing him from obtaining his usual supply of water. Ben- <br />der, the plaintiff, drilled a well in 1930, and began using the water from it in <br />1931, for irrigation. The well was used during each irrigation season from <br />1931 through 1947. Early in 1948, the original well caved in and a new well <br />was drilled very near the site of the old well. The new well is still in use (as I. <br />of 1962). I <br />In 1954, the defendent, the city of Colorado Springs, drilled and put into <br />use the four wells shown in Fig. 2. The city withdrew water during the years [' <br />of 1954, 1955, and 1956. The wells of both the plaintiff and defendant tapped <br />the same source or aquifer. <br />Shortly after the city's wells began pumping, the plaintiff claimed that it <br />was impossible to obtain enough water from his well to irrigate his crops <br />adequately; he blamed the defendant. The defendant claimed that the plaintiff <br />had suffered no damage as a result of the city's pumping. An investigation of <br />the ground-water resources of Fountain Valley was begun in July, 1954, by the <br />USGS in cooperation with the city of Colorado Springs and the Fountain Valley <br />Water Users Association.6, 7,8 The object was to determine the origin, move- <br />ment, and availability of ground water for domestic, stock, industrial, irri- <br /> <br />6 "Basic Data of the Fountain Creek Project," by Edward D. Jenkins, Dept. of the <br />Interior, Washington, D. C., open-file report, U. S. G. S., 1956, Figs. 1-15. <br />7 "Records, Logs, and Water-Level Measurements of Selected Wells and Test Holes <br />and Chemical Analysis of Ground Water in Fountain, Jimmy Camp, and Black Squirrel <br />