CNGA LooseLeaf April/May19

colorad o nga.org LooseLeaf April/May 2019 12 A B R I E F G U I D E T O Water Information Understanding the availability of water around your business or home is no simple task. The processes and variables that go into calculating water supply are complex. Depending upon your interest, many information resources are available to assist you in your search. Watershed Science A watershed is an area of land that feeds all the water running under it and draining off it into a body of water. Several hydrologic processes impact how much water remains in the stream and gets to the body of water. You can learn more at: • science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/ watershed1.html • water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html Snowpack, Precipitation & Reservoirs The National Water and Climate Center, operated by the USDA’s National Resource Conservation Service, utilizes Snotel sites to collect data on snow depth and water content of the snowpack. The NRCS website has a wealth of information about water supplies, including the following documents. • The Snow Water Equivalent Update map with site data for Colorado, New Mexico and other western states (you’ve probably seen it in the news): wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/gis/images/snowupdate_ rollover.html • Data about precipitation, snowpack, reservoirs, and forecasts listed in tables for river basins in our western states: wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ basin.html • With lots of charts, graphs, and analysis, the Colorado Water Supply Outlook Report and the New Mexico Basin Outlook Report can be found at these links: º º nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/co/snow/waterproducts (click on Water Supply Outlook Reports), reports updated monthly January–June º º nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/nm/snow/waterproducts (click on the month for the report that you want to view), reports updated monthly January–May Streamflows The United States Geological Survey, among its many activities, measures streamflows and groundwater levels throughout the United States, and has tools on its website to create maps and tables of data for streams and wells in every watershed. • This direct link to the gaging station on the Colorado River at the Colorado-Utah border provides a good example of the data you can access: waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/ uv?09163500 • Details on how streamflow information is used: water.usgs.gov/edu/ uses-of-streamflow-info.html. • Data on current streamflows: waterwatch.usgs.gov/?id=ww_current (click on the state and then find the dot for your stream) • Data on groundwater levels: groundwaterwatch.usgs.gov/default.asp (click on state and then find the specific county) Water Politics & Law • The Colorado Water Plan, created by the Colorado Water Conservation Board through a collaborative, statewide process, lays out how the state should manage water into the future: colorado.gov/pacific/cowaterplan/plan • Water rights are litigated in the state’s Water Court, which issues decrees of water rights and approves augmentation plans and changes in use. The court’s website has many resources including the Citizen’s Guide to Colorado Law (find link on right margin of page): courts.state.co.us/Courts/Water/ • Colorado Water Law for Non-Lawyers, authored by P. Andrew Jones and Tom Cech, is a comprehensive text providing water history, explanations of hydrologic terms, and the development of water law. The simplified legal language and the wide coverage of Colorado’s water rights system provides an excellent start to understanding how water rights are administered. By Ron Arpin, Nursery Manger, Little Valley Wholesale Nursery Water News & Events The nonprofit Water Education Colorado (watereducationcolorado.org ) organizes conferences and other events focused on water issues. The organization provides tours of water projects around Colorado, and publishes the FreshWater News with articles about water in Colorado. This flume gage is used to measure an owner’s share of canal water. Photo by Ron Arpin The Colorado River in western Colorado flows as little as 2,000 to 3,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) in winter and over 20,000 cfs in spring. Photo courtesy of USGS