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Winter Water Storage
Program
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The next Winter Water Meeting is
scheduled
for October 16, 2009 in La Junta.
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When representatives from irrigation companies in
the Arkansas Valley, and officials from the Bureau of Reclamation, first
conceived the idea of a multi-purpose project in the 1930's, they determined
that when a storage reservoir was constructed upstream from Pueblo, it should
contain sufficient space for the storage of decreed waters during the
non-irrigation months in the winter. Such space was built in Pueblo
Reservoir.
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The development of such a program required that
unanimous agreement be reached among the owners of the agricultural decrees to
permit the storage of such waters in accordance with state law.
Representatives from the District and each of the irrigation canal companies,
began to hold meetings in 1969, and when Pueblo Dam was completed in 1975,
unanimous agreement was reached to begin a "Voluntary Winter Storage
Program." They created a Board of Trustees consisting of one duly
appointed representative from each of the companies, with one alternate. Chaired
by Southeastern District, the
members of the board hold regular meetings throughout each year to evaluate the
results of the preceding Winter Storage Program, and to make adjustments to
improve the program the following year. Those adjustments included
increasing the experimental time from three months to four months, and the
adjustment of the percentage which was assigned to each of the participating
companies.
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2008-09 Winter Water
Reports
March 14
February 28
February 15
January 31
January 15
December 31
December 15
November 30
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| Unanimous agreement was reached each year except
1977, when one company did not agree as to the starting date, which prevented a
voluntary program that year. The members of the Board of Trustees and the
farmers they represented all agreed as to the value of the Winter Storage
Program, which permitted them to store a percentage of their historical decree
in Pueblo Reservoir, and other off-channel reservoirs, and then use those stored
waters at times and amounts which would prove the most beneficial use.
During extremely dry years it was found that the stored water made the
difference between starting a crop, and not having that opportunity. In
other years, farmers were able to retain winter stored water until the fall
months to help complete valuable crops. |
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| In 1984 the State Engineer recommended to the
District and the Board of Trustees that the program had worked very well under a
voluntary procedure, and requested that the participants petition the
water court for a permanent decree. On December 26, 1984 a petition was duly filed in Water Court Division 2,
with a majority of the participants signing the petition and several signing
statements of opposition. Attorneys for the District, and members of the
Board of Trustees spent much of 1987 working with Legal Council for decree
holders who still objected to the proposed Winter Storage Decree. Those
negotiations culminated in unanimous approval of the decree in October, and on
Tuesday, November 10, 1987, the Honorable John Tracey, Water Judge, Division 2,
convened Court to hear testimony presented by the District in a
prima facie case, to obtain approval for an Interlocutory Decree for the Winter
Storage Program. |
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Saturday, November 10, 1990, will go down in the
history books of the Arkansas Valley as a very significant "Water
Day." The Honorable John R. Tracey, Water Judge, Division 2, signed
the final Decree for the Winter Storage Program. An Interlocutory Decree
had been approved by the Court on November 10, 1987, requiring a three year
period for participants to object to terms and conditions. The final
Decree will enable participants in future programs to make long range plans
relative to water management and improvements of company and privately
owned facilities between November 15 - March 15, of each year.
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