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Agricultural Return Flows
Water Resource Engineer Applegate Group, Inc. Denver, CO.
By: Clay Good
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Biography
Background • Irrigated Agriculture • Agricultural Production • Civil Engineering/Water Resource Engineering
Education • B.S. Soil and Crop Science - CSU • B.S. Civil Engineering – CSU
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Work Experience Agricultural • Farm Management Consulting • Soil Fertility/Crop Growth Management
Water Resource Engineering • Water Rights • Floodplain Design and Analysis • Stream Restoration and Construction • Infrastructure Design
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Did you know?
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Introduction
Basics What are Ag return flows?
Analysis How are they used?
Use Why are they important?
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Quick Colorado Water Right Lesson “Water is the lifeblood of Colorado, our source of life, our liquid gold.” -Water, CO’s Real Gold By: Dick Stenzel and Tom Cech “First in time, first in right” • Prior Appropriation Doctrine
Beneficial Use •Basis, measure and limit of a water right •Lawful appropriation that employs resonably efficient
water use practices •Augmentation •Commercial/Industrial •Domestic •Irrigation •Oil and Gas Production
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Water Right Use õ True measure of a water right is how it has been used for
BENEFICIAL PURPOSES.
õ At time of adjudication, applicant must: õ Demonstrate diversion of specified amount of water
and the application of that water to a beneficial use.
õ Irrigator diverts water õ Water commissioner records õ Over time, each owner diverted the water and irrigated the decreed acres.
õ Over the years, the right’s full measure (entitlement) was established.
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Colorado Water System
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Agricultural Use Furrow Irrigation • Flood
Sprinkler Irrigation • Groundwater • Surface Water via Pond Diversion
Drip Irrigation • Vegetable, high price commodities
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Typical Farming Application
q Flood Irrigation q 50% Consumed q 50% Loss q Runoff q Evaporation q Deep
Percolation q Returns to
stream q Rate of
return q Volume not utilized referred to as Return Flows
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Return flow
q System Operation
q Importance
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Historical Use
Historical Importance •River/Stream Benefited from Return
Flows •Downstream water users diverted
these return flows •Consuming some of these Return
Flows
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Downstream • Generate
individual return flows
• Thousands of farms
• Hundreds of thousands of acres
• A great deal of water!!
Sold! •Agricultural to Industrial Change of Use
Change Application •Use, place of use, place of diversion, means of diversion •Must prove no injury •Must demonstrate lawful historical use of water rights
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Lawful Historical Use q To accomplish this:
1) Historical Consumptive Use analysis a) Assemble diversion records b) Interview irrigator, attain FSA records,
review aerial photos to verify crops grown c) Consumptive Use associated with
historical use of right d) Return Flow volume and timing
a) Determine timing of these return flows
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Engineering Results
• On average • The farmer diverted 110 AF from river
• 50 AF CU • 10 AF Ditch Loss • 40 AF Subsurface Returns • 10 AF Surface Returns
Will report to new owner
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Factory Owner Use
• Amount factory owner can divert into factory and consume with NO injury to other water users
50 AF of water each year – CU Amount
• Never benefited river historically • It was historically consumed by irrigated crops • Continued consumption in priority will have no
negative effect
This CU is portion of farmers water right that contains value
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Conclusion
•No, the historic return flow patterns would be altered, and those relying on these return flows downstream would be injured.
Can the factory owner divert this 50 AF only and utilize when he/she wants?
•To utilize 50 AF of CU •Must also divert the remaining 60 AF
•And return it back to the river at the same time/amount as historically done
This all means that:
•Factory may only divert May-October Diversion times?
•Historic accrual of return flows •Factory owner must follow same return schedule •Ditch diversion only during irrigation season •Must store, or gain additional leases to cover winter-time return
flow obligations
Winter return flows
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Questions?