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Ms.' Joanna Williams.. . <br />RE: WW Farms Expansion SWSP Request <br />Apri'I 22;' 2008 <br />Page 2 of 5 <br />We will use Table 1 to calculate evaporative losses for the. WW Farms Expansion Pit. When.'. <br />groundwater: becomes exposed it will be in the°.form of.a dewatering trench that will probably be" <br />aiound'`one acre in size, ' , The ,gross annual evaporation 'for, this. site was determined to, be <br />43-inches based :on the, NOAA Technical ReportNWS 33.: The average, annual precipitation <br />was, determined to be 12 inches per year, based on,the precipitation isohyetals' from the.CDSS:. <br />website for this area.. We obtained the data .from Western- Regional Climate Center for the <br />Greeley UNC Weather station. This site had an average annual precipitation- total of 14 inches. <br />We': took the monthly data :from the. Greeley UNC., site, and pro-rated each month to. ensure a <br />12 "inch annual total. We estimate that. 2.88- acre-feet of evaporation-will occur for each acre of <br />exposure. <br />Table 2 summarizes. total "depletions for -the WW Farms Expansion Pit, which includes both <br />evaporative losses (shown in Table 1). and operational losses. Again this .site is not being. <br />currently mined so there are.no depletions.as of yet, but when production starts it is estimated to <br />be at 500,000 tons (14.7 acre-feet of water lost in, material) with :an.additional 2 acre-feet for <br />dust control. Total operational losses are therefore estimated to be 16.7 acre-feet. The total <br />depletions including one acre of evaporative loss will be 19.6 acre feet. <br />WHITNEY DITCH CONSUMPTIVE USE ANALYSIS <br />Aggregate recently acquired 2.5 shares of the Whitney. Ditch, (Stock Certificate No. 324), from <br />Mr. -Ed Orr 'of, Greeley, Colorado. These shares have been used on the northwest '/4 of Section <br />30, Township 6 North, Range 66 West in Weld County, Colorado (see Figure 2). Mr. Orr has <br />owned and operated the 24 acre farm irrigated with the 2.5 shares of the Whitney Ditch since <br />September 2001. According to Mr. Orr, the land has been farmed for the past" 23 years. See <br />Appendix:B for Mr. Orr's affidavit and Appendix C for the detailed historic consumptive use <br />analysis. <br />The most recent diversion records for the Whitney Ditch were taken from the Colorado Decision <br />Support System network website. The average total annual diversions for the Whitney Ditch <br />from .1950 to 2004 totaled 10,596 acre-feet. Mr. Orr's 2.5 shares of the 320 total outstanding <br />shares equals a 0:78% pro-rata.portion of the Whitney Ditch diversions (2.5/320 = 0.78%). The <br />average annual pro-rata diversions total 70.4 acre-feet. <br />We assumed a 15% ditch" loss and that the flood irrigation was 60% efficient, therefore 42.2 <br />acre feet of water was available to meet the crop requirements. These are the same factors that <br />were decreed in TrollCo's 02CW390 Case and in the most recent application 08CW65 by Great <br />Western Development Company. Using the State CU model, weather data available from the <br />Greeley-UNC Weather Station (for the period from .1950-2004), and the. Upper. Plains <br />Calibration Coefficients for, alfalfa and corn grain, we calculated a crop irrigation requirement <br />(CIR) for the 24 acre farm (50% alfalfa and 50% corn grain) and determined it to be 43:8 acre- <br />feet. <br />The Upper Plains Calibrated Coefficient, is documented in SPDSS",(South Platte Decision <br />Support System) Memorandum Final Task 59.1 dated March 18, 2005, updated • January 11, <br />2008 ' This memo. summarizes .the lysimeter:investigations that were used to 'develop the locally <br />River Resource" <br />Amendment to Permit M1999098 112C. <br />Page G13 of G37