Water district opposes state irrigation mandate
By Ron Sering - Special to the Mail
Draft rules from the State Engineer's Office will be protested by the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District board after its regular meeting in Salida Thursday.
The rules are part of a review by the Division of Water Resources regarding surface water use in the Arkansas River Valley.
The review is part of an effort by Colorado Engineer Dick Wolf to put regulations in place ahead of possible objections by neighboring Kansas. The states share Arkansas River water and therefore have a history of water-related conflicts.
"Kansas is concerned use of sprinklers and drip systems will reduce the amount of water they will receive," Ken Baker, UAWCD consultant, said. He is a representative on a review committee for the rules.
Baker questions if the hydrological model upon which the rules are based is relevant to the Upper Arkansas River.
"They are based on the irrigation return flows from the Fort Lyon ditch," he said.
The ditch runs 114 miles from La Junta to the Kansas border.
Baker contends the climate, topology and hydrology of the Upper Arkansas differ markedly from the accepted model.
"For us," Baker said, "a long ditch is 10 miles."
Baker seeks wording in the rules excluding the Upper Arkansas River Valley from rules regarding increased efficiency.
He called for adding rules allowing irrigators to appeal decisions based upon the rules.
The next meeting of the task force is tentatively set for 1 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Occhiatto University Center on the Colorado State University campus.
On another topic, Fred Henderson III, chief scientist for Mt. Princeton Geothermal LLC, discussed additional plans since release of the results of the recent Colorado School of Mines Field camp.
Geophysics students from Colorado School of Mines and Boise State University conducted tests on area geology and hydrology.
"The students' main goal here was to learn," Henderson said. "They produced some good data, but we want to fill in some gaps."
Henderson proposes drilling thermal gradient wells in the Cottonwood area. Thermal gradient is the measurement of heat over distance. The data can be used to determine values defining geothermal potential
The most recent thermal gradient data comes from a 1975 project by Amax. The data, Henderson said, "is indicative of a very high heat source beneath the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs area.
"Similar thermal gradient drilling," Henderson said, "could be conducted at Cottonwood and Poncha Hot Springs to see if they might also overlie large, hot, geothermal reservoirs at depth capable of profitable electrical generation."
Chaffee County "is the test case" for feasible generation of electricity from hot water. "This is exciting for more than just Chaffee County."
Colorado has 168 hot springs and thermal wells, but "no one is producing electricity from them, yet," Henderson said.
For more information or a copy of the survey results, people may contact Henderson at 395-0440 or hendcos@msn.com
Regarding refilling North Fork Reservoir after renovation and improvements, last year, water district engineer Ivan Walter reported runoff has slowed.
"I think we're done for the year," Walter said.
Filling was delayed because heavy snow preventing officials from performing a routine check of dam integrity after construction work.
"We're going to face the same problem next year," Walter said. "We're going to figure some way to get the snow off the dam earlier."
|
