2014-03-19_HYDROLOGY - M1996049

• Permit No: M1996049
• IBM Index Class Name: HYDROLOGY
• Doc Date: 3/19/2014
• Doc Name: Substitute water supply plan
• From: Division of Water Resources
• To: Resource Engineering, Inc.
• Email Name: ECS
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Mr. Raul Passerini, P.E.
March 19, 2014
Replacement Water
Page 4
Replacement water to offset depletions is to be provided by consumptive use credits from
the dry-up of 138 acres historically irrigated fields by four ditches within the subject property that
have been removed from irrigation as a consequence of the gravel mining operations, and
releases from storage from Green Mountain Reservoir and Dillon Reservoir.
The four ditches used to provide dry-up credits include the Famine Creek Ditch, the Old
Whetstone Sheep Creek Ditch, the South Rock Creek Ditch, and the McKay Ditch. In total, 138
acres of historically irrigated fields have been removed from irrigation as a consequence of the
gravel mining operation at the Maryland Creek Ranch. A previous inspection of the dried -up lands
was performed on August 28, 2009 by the former District 36 Water Commissioner and Mr. M. Eric
Blaylock of Everist Materials, LLC. An affidavit (copy attached) from Mr. Blaylock, indicates that
the lands depicted in the original 1997 SWSP (85.5 acres) were dried -up and such lands will
remain dried -up. However, since this SWSP identified additional lands to be dried -up, the
Applicant is required to provide a new affidavit that identifies the 138 acres removed from
irrigation for this plan. A map of the dried -up lands associated with this SWSP is shown in the
attached Figure A -5.
The water rights associated with the four ditches are summarized in the table below:
Water Right Name
Case
Number
Priority
Number
Appropriation
Date
Adjudication Date
Decreed Amount
(cfs)
Famine Creek Ditch
CA 1277
10
06/01/1882
03/02/1910
5.00
Old Whetstone Sheep
Creek Ditch
CA 1277
22
07/01/1883
03/02/1910
1.00
South Rock Creek Ditch
CA 1709
251
07/07/1935
10/26/1937
8.00
McKay Ditch
CA 1805
334
10/01/1926
03/10/1952
18.67
Change of Use of Famine Creek Ditch and South Rock Creek Ditch:
Historically Famine Creek Ditch and South Rock Creek Ditch irrigated approximately
131.2 acres of pasture grass at the Maryland Creek Ranch property as shown on the attached
Figure A -4. Of this total, 65 acres have been permanently removed from irrigation as shown on
the attached Figure A -5.
The historical consumptive use of the irrigation supply for the 64.96 acres was quantified
based on the average monthly diversion records for the period of 1966 through 2010 for the
Famine Creek Ditch and 1965 through 2010 for the South Rock Creek Ditch (adjusted to the
total decreed diversion rate of 5.0 cfs for the Famine Creek Ditch and 8 cfs for the South Rock
Creek Ditch), using the TR -21 Modified Blaney - Criddle Method with adjustment for elevation.
Monthly temperature and precipitation data were taken from published records for Dillon 1 E
station and the Green Mountain Dam station. The ditch loss from the headgate to the irrigated
fields was assumed to be 10 percent and an irrigation efficiency of 60 percent was used. Water
in excess of the irrigation requirement was added to the soil moisture bank, which was
assumed to be 3 feet deep with a water holding capacity of 0.15 inches per inch.
The junior water right in the South Rock Creek Ditch (appropriation July 7, 1935) was
historically called out by the Shoshone Power Plant water right. Historically the water rights
within the Colorado River Basin that are junior to the Shoshone water right have been allowed
to divert without curtailment because of releases of water from the Historic Users Pool ( "HUP ")