Conservancy District offers value for Poncha Springs, Lake County

The March board meeting of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District covered a wide range of topics, including a water management plan that the district has implemented for Poncha Springs.

District hydrologist Jord Gertson reported that the town is “sitting pretty good” with 267 acre-feet of water stored in Pueblo Reservoir, O’Haver Lake and Friend Ranch Reservoir.

Former Upper Ark Conservancy District Project Manager Chelsey Nutter discusses O’Haver Lake monitoring equipment with a tour group. The equipment at O’Haver Lake helps the district administer Poncha Springs’ water resources (photo by Joe Stone).

“We’re doing all the water accounting for Poncha Springs,” District General Manager Terry Scanga said, which is “behind where some of these numbers are and the water they have.”

He pointed to the town’s McPherson Ditch water as an example of how Poncha Springs has benefited from the district’s accounting. “They were losing about 30-40 acre-feet a year. … It was actually just going down the river.”

Other topics covered during the Upper Ark board meeting include the district’s blanket augmentation plan and discussions with Lake County about administering its blanket augmentation plan.

Gertson reported that conservancy district staff members completed an evaluation of the amount of water used in 2018 by way of augmentation certificates issued under the district’s blanket plan.

For most Chaffee County residents who rely on well water, an augmentation certificate from the Upper Ark District Enterprise Committee is required to pump water legally.

A district augmentation certificate entitles the owner to pump 32,585 gallons of water per year, and the district replaces that amount of water in the appropriate stream or river through reservoir releases.

A map of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District (red line) includes the portions of the district covered by its blanket augmentation plan. Residents within the shaded areas can obtain an augmentation certificate that allows them to use a well without the need to file a case in water court. Click the map for a larger version (courtesy of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District).

Gertson said the evaluation of 2018 pumping numbers shows that 62 percent of certificate holders pump less water than allowed and 6 percent pump excess water, resulting in the district releasing approximately 400 acre-feet more water than is used.

“It’s nice to have this buffer,” Gertson said. “It shows our plan is solid.”

Scanga clarified that the staff evaluation does not include larger augmentation clients like Nestlé or subdivisions with central water systems but covers the cumulative water use from “small residential-type wells.”

Board Chairman Tim Canterbury commented that the district’s augmentation operations result in “extra water going down the river that someone ought to be thankful for.”

Scanga replied, “That was always the philosophy of this board … that we don’t mind over-replacing because there is a benefit to other water rights users … in particular, the irrigators.” Information about the district’s blanket augmentation plan is available here.

Concerning the Lake County augmentation plan, Scanga reported that Lake County Commissioner Sarah Mudge had contacted him to discuss the possibility of having the district administer the plan, which is similar to the Upper Ark District’s blanket augmentation plan.

Scanga said Lake County filed a plan for augmentation in the late ’90s. The plan was decreed in the last few years, and since Lake County staff has no experience with augmentation plans, they have struggled with the necessary administration and accounting requirements.

Consequently, Scanga said, Lake County is interested in working with the district to draft a service agreement to administer their augmentation plan. “There would be significant setup that we would have to do. … This is a relatively complex augmentation plan. … It’s very similar to what we do in our augmentation plan.”

Mudge expressed optimism about the “potential in the partnership with your district.”

Chairman Canterbury summarized, “Basically what we’re looking for here today is guidance for staff to continue to work with Lake County … but we need some direction for staff to proceed with this.”

Following discussion, the board voted unanimously to direct district staff to proceed with the work required to determine the parameters of a potential service agreement with Lake County.

For more information about augmentation in Colorado, visit www.uawcd.com/augmentation.html. For additional water news from the Upper Ark District, follow their Local Water News.

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Joe Stone

Joe Stone is an award-winning journalist and science writer with an extensive background in water and forest health issues. Joe has reported on local, regional and state water issues for more than 20 years, and he wrote and edited numerous reports about water, ecology and environmental issues while working at Oak Ridge National Lab. Joe's background also includes serving on the South Platte Basin Roundtable, the Chaffee County Planning Commission, the Friends of Browns Canyon Board, and the Harris Park Water and Sanitation District Board.