2011-05-18_HYDROLOGY - M1979191 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Jared Dains May 17, 2011 Middle Poudre Combined Plan - Lafarge West, Inc. Page 5 of 9 Lafarge also owns 1 share of 3.5 shares historically utilized for the irrigation of the Robert Weitzel Farm (145 acres) and another 2 shares of 5 shares historically used for the irrigation of the Louis Swift Farm. The Robert Weitzel Farm is no longer irrigated due to the mining at the Weitzel Pit and the adjacent Stute Pit operated by Connell Resource, Inc. The dry-up acreage claimed for Lafarge's 1 share would be 41.4 acres of the 145 acres historically irrigated on the Robert Weitzel Farm. The Robert Weitzel Farm property is no longer irrigated and includes the 66.7 acres-of ground water lakes at the Weitzel Pit site. The historical consumptive use credit of 1 Box Elder Ditch share associated with the Weitzel Farm was determined to be 43.8 acre-feet. This is based on a historical consumptive use analysis that was completed in support of an application for an augmentation plan pending in case no. .2002CW205. The historical consumptive use credit of the 2 Box Elder Ditch shares associated with the Swift Farm was determined to be 101.1 acre-feet based on the historical consumptive use analysis in case no. 94CW015. As described in 94CW015, the Swift Farm is no longer irrigated and the decree references 70 acres of dry-up associated with the 2 shares. The total consumptive use credit available from the 8.5 Box Elder Ditch shares is 426.26 acre-feet. The attached Table 3 shows the farm headgate delivery of the 8.5 Box Elder Ditch shares. Lafarge plans to divert the full farm headgate delivery of 756.90 acre-feet into the recharge site. A total of 532.76 acre-feet were diverted into the recharge site between May 18 and October 31, 2010. The 2010 depletions not covered by recharge were replaced by leases with the City of Greeley ("Greeley") and Platte River Power Authority. A copy of the 2010 amended lease with the Platte River Power Authority was submitted to this office with this plan request. A copy of the Greeley lease was submitted with the previous plan. Lafarge will divert the full farm headgate delivery of the 8.5 Box Elder Ditch shares starting in April 2011. Accordingly, the monthly timing of 756.90 acre-feet (full farm headgate delivery of the 8.5 shares) was used in the recharge model to determine the recharge accretion credits for 2011. The recharge model uses the following parameters: transmissivity (T)=45,000 gallons/day/foot, the distance of centroid of the recharge pit to the.Cache La Poudre River (X)=1,600 feet, the distance for the parallel impermeable boundary to the Cache La Poudre River (W)=5,000 feet, and the specific yield (S)=0.2. The lagged accretions to the Cache la Poudre River are estimated to total 786.92 acre-feet for this approval period (includes carry over from recharge in previous years). The Three Bells site was continuously dewatered at a rate of 1,200 gallons per minute. The timing of the lagged depletions from the dewatering operation was determined through a stream depletion model for the Three Bells Pit. In the previous SWSP, the model addressed the lagged depletions at the East Rigden Pit, Kyger Pit, Port of Entry Pit, Weitzel Pit, and Shield Mine by accounting for the net accretion credits at the river that occur due to the dewatering operation at the Three Bells Pit. The stream depletion model for the Three Bells site shows that the dewatering at this site has reached steady-state equilibrium and therefore no credit from dewatering at the Three Bells sites is claimed in this SWSP. -- During the Water Year 2011, a lease from the City of Greeley ("Greeley") will make replacements for depletions not covered by the recharge program. A lease of 8.20 acre-feet of fully consumable water from Greeley will make replacements in March, April and May 2011. Lafarge West, Inc. ("Lafarge") traded their 550 shares of the Boyd and Freeman Ditch with Greeley for a perpetual lease of 125 acre- feet per year. The 35th Avenue Pit SWSP (WDID 0302546) approved on November 23, 2010 is using 116.80 acre-feet under the trade agreement. The remaining water will be used under this SWSP to cover the replacement for depletions in March, April and May 2011. Also, during 2011, a lease from the LCRC will make replacements for depletions not covered by the recharge program. A lease of 12.20 acre-feet of fully consumable water from LCRC will make replacements for May 2011. A copy of the LCRC lease was submitted to this office on May 11, 2011 and