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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ~~, ~.,.., ~ :_,'~ 'J U . .L Beebe Draw Allul'ium Integration of the Beebe Draw alluvium into the Barr lake Plan can substantially increase east slope storage without the need to construct any major new dam. In Case No. 84-CW-090, FRICa adjudicated an exchange plan which utilizes between 100,000 and 200,000 acre feet of alluvial storage between Barr lake and Milton Reservoir. The Beebe Draw alluvium is a shallow (l00 feet) alluvial aquifer, geologically isolated from the South Plate River on the west and Box Elder Creek on the east. Hydrogeologically, it is an extinct channel of the South Platte with high porosity and extensive storage capacity. Irrigation wells with a capacity of 1,000 to 2,000 gpm are not uncommon in the Draw. The Beebe Draw alluvium can be managed to maximize this storage for agriculture and municipal uses. In FRICa's augmentation decree, a computer model of accretions and depletions to the alluvium received judicial approval such that FRICa may balance depletions arising from alluvial pumping against accretions for water previously infiltrated into the basin. Transmountain return flows, Two Forks water or any excess flows can be diverted into Barr Lake as a "forebay" at high capacity (2,000 acre feet per day), and released at a rate accommodated by the infiltration system. At a projected infiltration of two acre feet per well per day, the 4S conditional well sites adjudicated to FRICa could infiltrate over 30,000 acre feet per year into the Beebe Draw alluvium. Additional well sites could easily be incorporated into the program to increase the infiltration and withdrawal capacity of the system. Managed alluvial aquifers are not extensively used in Colorado, although the closed basin system in the San Luis Valley and the Arkansas recharge project of the Southeastern Water 12