WSP07896

• File Number: 8449.600
• Description: Chatfield Reservoir
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 2/1/1976
• Author: M W Bittinger & Asso
• Title: Preliminary Feasiblity Estimate of the Potential Use of the Conservation Pool of Chatfield Reservoir
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

Potential sources of
evaporation replacement water

As a part of this contract certain water rights will be transferred to

.the District with an estimated transferrable yield of 380 acre-feet in an

average year and 180 acre-feet in a dry year.

Phipps water rignts. Certain water rights decreed on the Plum Creek

close to or within the Chatfield pool are. offered for sale and appear to be

worthy of further investigation. A preliminary investigation by another

party indicates that these water rights were used for the irrigation of

approximately 500 acres of agricultural land. The assumed annual consumptive

use on this acreage was estimated as 750 acre-feet. The transferability of

this amount is not knot;n at the present time, for historic consumption will

have to be substantiated in a court proceeding. Comparing the flow charac-

teristics of Plum Creek with the'date of the priorities, diversions by these

decrees, particularly in the later part of the season, were probably small.

The preliminary report indicates that there are also two wells on the property

that have been probably used as alternate points of diversion for supple-

menting late-season diversions.

The preliminary report unfortunately does not go into the evaluation

of the potential dry-year yield of these water rights which will be a question

of great importance for the District. If various hydrologic facts mentioned

in the report prove to be valid in court, a conservative estimate of the

dry-year yield of 300 to 400 acre-feet is probably correct.

Acquisition and transfer of reservoir water. Two alternative routes

of inquiry should be pursued in this regard. Individual smaller storage

rights filling from the South Platte River should be investigated for pur-

chase. The most important feature concerning these reservoirs is the historic

use of these storage rights. Only as an indication, it must be noted that

a number of the smaller reservoirs appeared on the State Engineer's abandon-

ment list, so that on each particular case the Water Commissioner will have

to be interviewed on the historic use of these storage decrees,

The other type of reservoir water acquisition is the purchase of shares

of stock in existing larger reservoirs. The most important ones falling

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M. W. BITTINGER AND ASSOCIATES, INC.