REV101956 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

GA-4 Surface drainage from the sodium lease tracts is controlled by a series of intermittent streams, all of which flow toward Yellow Creek with the exception of Horse Draw. Yellow Creek is predominantly an intermittent stream, however, some reaches and the mouth of the stream will flow year-round. The drainage area of Yellow Creek, measured at the USGS Yellow Creek station, near White River is 262 square miles. Average annual discharge is 1.90 cfs (1,380 acre-feet per year) for the period from October. 1972 to September 1982, with a maximum daily flow of 500 cfs (USGS 1983), and a maximum instantaneous flow of 6,800 cfs (September 7, 1978). GA.2.3 Diversions and Water Rights The majority of surface waters in the region are used for agricultural purposes including irrigating hay meadows in the low • land areas and stock watering. Weeks et al, (1974) estimated approximately 5,100 acres in Piceance Creek Basin and 200 acres in Yellow Creek Basin are irrigated annually. Irrigation diversions usually begin in mid-March and continue through early November. The amount of water diverted and number of acres irrigated at any one time are dependent on water availability, water-right priorities, crop type and weather conditions. Wymore (1974) estimated annual streamflow depletions due to irrigation as 3,950 acre-feet in the Piceance Creek Basin and 5o acre-feet in the Yellow Creek Basin. NaTec is the owner of several direct flow and storage rights as well as groundwater rights in the White River/Piceance Creek/Yellow Creek drainage basin in Rio Blanco County. The White River/Piceance Creek/Yellow Creek water rights have been secured to function as an integrated system of providing a water supply for uses associated with NaTec's sodium leases. • NaTec's direct flow right, Wolf Ridge Feeder Pipeline, diverts from White River about one mile downstream of the confluence with Piceance Creek. The storage right, Wolf Ridge