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Mr. Jared Dains <br />Bucklen SWSP <br />December 19, 2013 <br />Page 5 <br />Reservoir and the point of depletion will be assessed as required by the water commissioner or <br />division engineer. <br />Graham Ditch Company <br />Bucklen Enterprises has also obtained a lease from the Graham Ditch Company for 2.9 <br />acre -feet of replacement water from the Graham Seepage & Drainage Canal (WDID 0301321) <br />water right. This water right was decreed in case no. W -7818 as developed water, not tributary to <br />the South Platte River to be used for irrigation or domestic purposes. The court found that 2,800 <br />acre -feet of water was developed by the construction, development, and operation of the Graham <br />Seepage & Drainage Canal; however, historically only 1,330 acre -feet were consumptively used, <br />with 1,470 acre -feet discharged as waste water to the Cache la Poudre River and its tributaries. <br />The current lease for the Graham Seepage & Drainage Canal water, executed on September 17, <br />2013 is for the months of April 2014 and October 2013 and a copy is attached to this letter. <br />Deliveries to the Cache La Poudre are measured at a flume (Graham Seep Ditch Return, WDID <br />0302906) located approximately 380 feet from the mouth of the ditch and are made adjacent of the <br />estimated point of depletions from the Bucklen Pit, therefore no transit losses were assessed. <br />On October 29, 2013, the SEO received a comment letter on behalf of the Greeley Irrigation <br />Company ( "GIC ") stating that the nontributary determination and actual historical consumptive use <br />of the Graham Ditch water is subject to scrutiny per the applicant's efforts to change the use of the <br />water to include augmentation purposes. For this year's SWSP request, the SEO is <br />administratively approving the change of water right for augmentation purposes. However, due to <br />questions regarding the nontributary nature of the water and the need for a change of water right <br />from irrigation and domestic to augmentation, the SEO will not approve such a change in future <br />SWSPs unless the use of the Graham Ditch water for augmentation purposes is approved by the <br />water court. <br />Conditions of Approval <br />I hereby approve the proposed SWSP in accordance with § 37 -90- 137(11), C.R.S., subject <br />to the following conditions: <br />1. This SWSP is approved with the effective date of November 1, 2013 and shall be valid <br />through October 31, 2014 unless otherwise revoked or modified. If this SWSP will not be <br />made absolute by a water court action by the SWSP expiration date, a renewal request <br />must be submitted to this office with the statutory fee (currently $257) no later than August <br />31, 2014. <br />2. Well permit no. 67876 -F (as amended on February 24, 2010) was issued in accordance with <br />§37 -90- 137(2) and (11), C.R.S., for a maximum total exposed surface water area in the pit of <br />17.81 acres. This permit covers a loss of 34.6 acre -feet from evaporation (from 12.54 acres), <br />2.94 acre -feet from mined product, and 4.51 acre -feet from dust control. <br />3. The total surface area of the groundwater exposed at the Bucklen Pit must not exceed <br />12.54 acres of post -81 areas and 5.27 acres of pre -81 area, resulting in 34.6 acre -feet of <br />evaporative loss. <br />4. The total amount of product mined at the Bucklen Pit shall not exceed 200,000 tons per <br />year, which results in 2.94 acre -feet of water lost with product, and 4.51 acre -feet of water <br />used for dust control. <br />