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DISSCUSIQN <br />Currently, the monitoring network consists of approximately 78 wells. Due to personnel <br />changes within the Colorado Division of Water Resources and other factors, only 54 of the wells <br />were measured during the spring of 2004. All measurements given in this report were made <br />either by personnel from Central Colorado Water Conservancy District (CCWCD) or by Colorado <br />Division of Water Resources Water Commissioners (CDWR). Measurements are usually taken <br />twice a year, typically in the spring before irrigation pumping commences and again in the fall after <br />irrigation pumping has ceased. All measured wells are completed in either the alluvial aquifer of <br />the South Platte River or its tributaries. Locations of the observation wells are shown on Figure 1. <br />Water level changes for all measured wells for the period Spring 2003 to Spring 2004 <br />show a decline of 0.18 feet. Changes in the Alluvial Aquifer of the main stem of the South Platte <br />average a decline of 0.22 feet for the 2003/2004 period. This compares to a decline of 1.06 feet <br />during the 2002/2003 period. The overall change in the tributary valleys for the period Spring <br />2003 to Spring 2004 was a decline of 0.15 feet, compared to a decline of 0.51 feet during the <br />Spring 2002 to Spring 2003 period. Table 1 shows the average changes in water level for the <br />South Platte main stem and the alluvial valleys. Table 2 shows the average changes in each of <br />the tributary valleys. The overall changes are significantly less than changes during the past five <br />years. This tends to indicate a return to normal precipitation rather than the drought conditions <br />that have existed for the past several years. <br />