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Alternate Point of Diversion Well, Aquifer, Artesian Well, Board or Board of Directors, Designated Ground Water, Designated Ground Water Basin, Ground Water Commission or Commission,
<br /> Ground Water Management District or District, Historical Water Level, Person, Replacement Well, Subdivision, Supplemental Well, Underground Water and Ground Water, Waste, and Well.
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<br />4.2 Specific Definitions Unless expressly stated otherwise the following terms when used in these Rules shall have the meaning indicated in this Rule.
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<br /> 4.2.1 "Additional Well" Means a well permitted under Rule 5.3.9 wherein an additional well, together with the previously permitted well(s) withdrawing ground water under provisions
<br /> of Rule 5.3 or 5.4 may withdraw the allowed average annual amount of withdrawal of the previously permitted well(s).
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<br /> 4.2.2 "Allowed Maximum Annual Amount of Withdrawal" means the maximum amount of water in acre-feet that a permittee may withdraw from a well in a calendar year.
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<br /> 4.2.2.5 "Allowed Average Annual Amount of Withdrawal" means the average amount of water in acre feet that a permittee may withdraw from a well in a calendar year.
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<br /> 4.2.3 "Applicant" means that person or entity who applies to the Ground Water Commission for a well permit or for a change in water right or for any other permitting action from the
<br /> Commission pursuant to these Rules.
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<br /> 4.2.4 "Appropriation" means the application of a specified portion of the designated waters of the state to a beneficial use pursuant to the procedures prescribed by law.
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<br /> 4.2.5 "Artificial Recharge" means the intentional introduction of water into any underground formation.
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<br /> 4.2.6 "Bedrock Aquifers" means Denver Basin bedrock aquifers as identified in Rule 5.3.1 and those other aquifers within the Designated Basins considered for appropriation under Rule
<br /> 5.4.
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<br /> 4.2.7 "Beneficial Use" is the use of that amount of water that is reasonable and appropriate under reasonably efficient practices to accomplish without waste the purpose for which the
<br /> appropriation is lawfully made and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes the impoundment of water for recreational purposes, including fishery or wildlife.
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<br /> 4.2.8 "Change of Water Right" means a change in acreage served, volume of appropriation, pumping rate, well location, place, time or type of use by any water right, either conditional
<br /> or final, or any combination of these changes including commingling of waters under such water rights.
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<br /> 4.2.9 "Commission Staff or Staff" means an employee or agent of the Colorado Division of Water Resources authorized by the State Engineer to act or assist in discharging the duties
<br /> of the Commission.
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<br /> 4.2.10 "Conditional Water Right" means a right to perfect a water right under the provisions of the law with a certain priority upon the completion of the appropriation upon which such
<br /> water right is to be based.
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<br /> 4.2.11 "Confining Layer" means all or part of a formation which impedes the flow of ground water from an adjacent aquifer.
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<br /> 4.2.12 "Confined Well" means a well completed in or producing from an aquifer or portion of an aquifer in which the static water level in the well rises due to hydrostatic pressure
<br /> above where it was first encountered in the aquifer.
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<br /> 4.2.13 "Contiguous Parcel" means that portion of the overlying land that is in contact with itself so that no part is totally separated.
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<br /> 4.2.14 "Crop Consumptive Use" means the total amount of water taken up by vegetation for transpiration or building of plant tissue, plus the evaporation from the adjacent soil or from
<br /> intercepted precipitation on the plant foliage.
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<br /> 4.2.15 "Cylinder of Appropriation" means a hypothetical cylinder centered around the location of an existing or proposed well which, for a specific aquifer, contains a volume of water
<br /> equal to one hundred times the annual appropriation of an existing well or the allowed average annual amount of withdrawal of a proposed well. The radius of the cylinder of appropriation
<br /> is computed from the following formula:
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<br /> Radius of Cylinder (ft.) = the square root of:
<br />
<br /> 43,560 (ft. sq./acres) x withdrawal (acre ft./yr.) x 100 (yr.)
<br /> Specific yield x saturated aquifer materials (ft.) x 3.1416
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<br /> where withdrawal means the annual appropriation or allowed average annual
<br /> amount of withdrawal.
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<br /> 4.2.16 "Denver Basin Bedrock Aquifers" or "Denver Basin Aquifers" means the Upper Dawson, Lower Dawson, Denver, Upper Arapahoe, Lower Arapahoe and Laramie-Fox Hills aquifers as defined
<br /> in the Denver Basin Rules, 2 CCR 402-6.
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<br /> 4.2.17 "Historic Withdrawal" means the average annual volumetric amount of ground water withdrawn by a well including any replacement well(s) during the life of the well permit. This
<br /> amount shall be computed under the provisions of Rule 7.10 unless it is a bedrock aquifer well, where the provisions of Rule 7.1.3 shall apply. These terms differ from the term "the
<br /> historic depletion of the aquifer " in the sense that the amount of historic depletion of the aquifer is equal to the amount of historic withdrawal from the aquifer minus the portion
<br /> of the withdrawal which percolates back to the aquifer.
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<br />4.2.18 "Large Capacity Well" means any well which is permitted to put designated ground water to beneficial use provided the said permit is not for a small capacity well pursuant to
<br /> Section 37-90-105, C.R.S.
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<br /> 4.2.19 "Nontributary Ground Water" means that ground water, the withdrawal of which will not, within one hundred years, deplete the flow of a natural stream, or its alluvial aquifer,
<br /> at an annual rate greater than one tenth of one percent of the annual rate of withdrawal. The determination of whether ground water is nontributary shall be based on aquifer conditions
<br /> existing at the time of permit application; except that, in recognition of the de minimis amount of water discharging from the Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, and Laramie Fox Hills aquifers
<br /> into surface streams due to artesian pressure, in determining whether ground water of the Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, and Laramie Fox Hills aquifers is nontributary, it shall be assumed
<br /> that the hydrostatic pressure level in each such aquifer has been lowered at least to the top of that aquifer throughout that aquifer.
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<br /> 4.2.20 "Overappropriated Aquifer" means an aquifer for which the net average annual depletion rate of ground water is considered to be in excess of the allowable net average annual
<br /> depletion rate for that aquifer as set by the Commission.
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<br /> 4.2.21 "Overlying Land" means that land owned by the applicant, or by another who has consented to the applicant's withdrawal of ground water, which overlies the bedrock aquifers as
<br /> described in Rule 5.3 and 5.4 of these Rules, and which the applicant requests be considered in determining the allowed average annual amount of withdrawal sought in the application.
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<br /> 4.2.22 "Priority" means the date that a water right or a conditional water right will be entitled to use water in relation to other water rights and conditional water rights deriving
<br /> their supply from a common source.
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<br /> 4.2.23 "Replacement Plan" means a detailed program to increase the supply of water available for beneficial use in a designated basin or portion thereof by the development of new or
<br /> alternate means or points of diversion, by a pooling of water resources, by water exchange projects, by providing substitute supplies of water, by the development of new sources of
<br /> water, or by any other appropriate means. "Replacement Plan" does not include the salvage of designated waters by the eradication of phreatophytes, nor does it include the use of precipitation
<br /> water collected from land surfaces which have been made impermeable, thereby increasing the runoff but not adding to the existing supply of water.
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<br /> 4.2.24 "Saturated Aquifer Material(s)" means those aquifer materials containing sufficient water that can be drained by gravity and placed to beneficial use.
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<br /> 4.2.25 "Specific Yield" means the volume of water which can be drained by gravity from a saturated volume of aquifer material divided by the volume of material. This ratio can be expressed
<br /> as a percentage.
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<br /> 4.2.26 "Three Mile Circle" or "Circle" means a circle with a radius of three miles centered at the location of the well or proposed well used to appropriate water from the Ogallala
<br /> Aquifer of the Northern High Plains Designated Ground Water Basin.
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<br /> 4.2.27 "Waiver of Claim of Injury" means a written affidavit given by a well owner to an applicant waiving all claims of any injury to an existing water right as a result of the approval
<br /> of applicant's request by the Commission.
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<br /> 4.2.28 "Water Right" means a right to use in accordance with its priority a certain portion of the designated ground water by reasons of the appropriation of the same.
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<br /> 4.2.29 "Well Field" means two or more wells, which are permitted to withdraw ground water from the same aquifer in any combination thereof up to the full permitted amount of the aggregate
<br /> appropriations.
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<br /> 4.2.30 "Well Owner" means any person or his agent who holds the title or other rights of property in a well.
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<br /> 4.2.31 "Wire to Water Efficiency" or "Overall Pumping Plant Efficiency" means the ratio of the water energy output from the pump divided by the input energy to the power plant expressed
<br /> as a percentage.
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<br />4.3 Other Definitions All other words used herein shall be given their usual customary and accepted meaning. Terms that were not defined in this Rule which are defined in the statutes
<br /> or other rules of the State Engineer shall use the meaning given therein. All words of a technical nature specific to the water well industry shall be given the meaning which is generally
<br /> accepted in said industry.
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<br />RULE 5 APPROPRIATION OF DESIGNATED GROUND WATER
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<br />5.1 Applicability
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<br /> 5.1.1 Section 37 90 107, C.R.S. provides for the Commission's review and approval of applications to use designated ground water. The availability of water for appropriation, prevention
<br /> of unreasonable impairment to the rights of other appropriators, and prevention of unreasonable waste are criteria the Commission is to consider in determining whether to grant or deny
<br /> an application.
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<br /> 5.1.2 The use of ground water requiring a permit pursuant to Section 37 90 107, C.R.S. may include use for irrigation, municipal, commercial, industrial, mining, fishery, recreational
<br /> and all other beneficial uses as occur through the use of a well. The use of ground water may also include the incidental use through evaporation from mining excavations or recreational
<br /> ponds.
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<br /> 5.1.3 The spacing limits, calculations of appropriation and other limits set forth herein apply to large capacity wells. Certain applications to be considered pursuant to prior court
<br /> decree may not be subject to this rule but when a conditional decree previously granted by a court becomes absolute by reason of a well being drilled and water put to beneficial use,
<br /> the well becomes fully subject to the Colorado Ground Water Management Act, Title 37, Article 90 and the Commission's rules and policies. For all applications to construct wells or
<br /> use ground water within the boundaries of a designated basin, the Commission shall first determine if it has jurisdiction.
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<br /> 5.1.4 If an application to appropriate designated ground water can be given favorable consideration, such fact shall be published in accordance with Sections 37 90 107(2), and 112 C.R.S.
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<br /> 5.1.5 Applications for well permits pursuant to Section 37 90 105, C.R.S. may be granted by the State Engineer without regard to any provisions of these rules.
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<br />5.2 Appropriation from all Aquifers except Bedrock Aquifers This rule applies to all aquifers except bedrock aquifers. Aquifer boundaries defined here are deemed presumptive upon
<br /> the Commission and applicants, except that site specific data may be used to better define an aquifer boundary.
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<br /> 5.2.1 No application for a permit to appropriate ground water from an aquifer under Rule 5.2 shall be granted within 1/2 mile of an existing large capacity well screened within the
<br /> same aquifer(s) unless a Waiver of Claim of Injury is obtained from the owner of such a well or unless the Commission, after a hearing, finds that circumstances in a particular instance
<br /> allow a permit to be issued without regard to the above limitation.
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<br /> 5.2.2 Northern High Plains Designated Ground Water Basin Ogallala and White River Aquifers.
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<br /> 5.2.2.1 The areal extent of the Ogallala and White River Aquifers are considered to coincide with the areal extent of the Northern High Plains Designated Basin.
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<br /> 5.2.2.2 All new appropriations shall be controlled by management criteria that limit the maximum allowable rate of depletion to 40% of the water in storage within the saturated materials
<br /> over a 100 year period. The amount of water in storage shall be determined as of the date of acceptance of a complete application.
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<br /> 5.2.2.3 In the evaluation of new permit applications, the following three mile radius circle formula shall be used in the determination of whether an application shall be granted or
<br /> denied:
<br />
<br /> A = 640(D)(S.Y.) 3.1416 R2 H + 640(f)(Pr) 3.1416 R2
<br /> (1.0 Ir)t 12(1.0 Ir)
<br />
<br /> where,
<br /> A = Annual appropriation allowable within the circle being
<br /> evaluated in acre feet per year
<br /> D = Allowable depletion (expressed as a decimal)
<br /> S.Y. = Specific yield (dimensionless)
<br /> R = Radius of circle (miles)
<br /> H = Average saturated thickness within the circle (feet)
<br /> t = Time period during which depletion, D, occurs (years)
<br /> Pr = Precipitation recharge (inches/yr.)
<br /> f = Fraction of Pr that is available for appropriation in the
<br /> circle (dimensionless)
<br /> Ir = Fraction of A that returns to the aquifer as deep
<br /> percolation, i.e., irrigation return (dimensionless)
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