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Colorado is "THE" Headwaters State
The term headwater means the area near the source of a river basin, i.e., the highest area in a drainage basin where the river originates. Obviously, there are headwaters in every river basin in the United States so there are many headwaters in every state, and headwaters of rivers are very common in general. So why is Colorado known as THE “Headwaters State”? It is because eight major river basins originate in Colorado, marking the beginnings of the Platte, Arkansas, and Colorado Rivers, as well as the Rio Grande.
Series: Colorado Water Law Basics #14.3 - Case Study Addressing the Impact of the Drought Contingency Plan
In last week’s LWS blog, we discussed the water limitations on the Lower Basin States under different Tiers of the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP). Under a Tier 1 restriction, a total reduction of over 18 percent of Arizona’s allocation would be implemented. What does this mean for Arizona water users?
Series: Colorado Water Law Basics #14.2 - Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan
The 1922 Colorado River Compact split the river’s resources into two segments, the Upper Basin States & the Lower Basin States. The 1922 Compact allocated the “exclusive beneficial consumptive use of 7,500,000 acre-feet of water per annum” to each Division. However, the 1922 Compact did not establish apportionments of water within each Division. That apportionment was done at a later date. Unfortunately, the apportionments to the Upper and Lower Basin States, 15 million acre-feet (MAF) annually, are more than the Colorado River yields. How are the shortages dealt with equitably? Read on to find out!
Series: Colorado Water Law Basics #14.1 - Apportionment of Colorado River Water, by State
In the LWS blog about the importance of Lee Ferry (Nov 17, 2020) we discussed the 1922 Colorado River Compact that allocated 7.5 million acre-feet per year (MAF) each to the Upper Basin States and the Lower Basin States. However, the 1922 Compact did not apportion water within the Upper or Lower Basin States. So how do the states within the Colorado River Basin know how much of the full 7.5 MAF allocation they can put to beneficial use? There are four Upper Basin States (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico) and three Lower Basin States (Nevada, Arizona, and California).
Evaluating Flooding Potential in Urban Areas
We can analyze existing drainage structures and how they perform by evaluating historic flooding events or predicting effects from future, less frequent, storm events that have not occurred to-date. The process of assessing flood events has to start with watershed delineation so the contributing area is known.
The Colorado Information Marketplace
The Colorado Information Marketplace is a repository of information of all sorts that pertains to data collected in Colorado and there is an entire section on water-related data sets. While a lot of the information can be found across other websites and links, many of which are highlighted in the LWS useful resources page, the Colorado Information Marketplace is a great warehouse of data and visualizations.
Series: Colorado Water Law Basics #13 - Detention vs. Retention Stormwater Ponds
There are two types of stormwater ponds: detention ponds and retention ponds. Detention ponds only detain water for a short period of time, then release the water to a natural watercourse, while retention ponds retain the water for an indefinite period of time. The way a detention pond works is there is typically an outlet at the lowest point in the pond that allows the water to slowly drain through the pond. Therefore, detention ponds typically are dry between storm events. Conversely, retention ponds typically have a weir or some type of overflow device which allows discharge of water but only when inflow exceeds the capacity of the pond and the water level rises above the outlet weir or pipe. As such, retention ponds are typically maintained at a relatively constant water level.
Deep Bedrock Wells for Municipal Use: A Series on the Process - #7) Water Quality Testing
Welcome to the seventh and final installment in our well drilling series following the construction of Monument Well 10 by Layne, A Granite Company, and Lytle Water Solutions! In our previous blogs we covered the borehole drilling, geophysics/well design, well installation, gravel packing/grouting, well development, and well testing. Now we move on to the water quality testing of the well.
Deep Bedrock Wells for Municipal Use: A Series on the Process - #6) Well Testing
Welcome to the sixth installment in our well drilling series following the construction of Monument Well 10 by Layne, A Granite Company, and Lytle Water Solutions! In our first five blogs we covered the borehole drilling, geophysics/well design, well installation, gravel packing/grouting, and development. Now we will move on to the testing of the well.
Deep Bedrock Wells for Municipal Use: A Series on the Process - #5) Well Development
Welcome to the fifth installment in our well drilling series following the construction of Monument Well 10 by Layne, A Granite Company, and Lytle Water Solutions! In the first blog we talked about how the borehole for the well is drilled. In the second blog we discussed the basics of geophysical logging and well design. In the third blog we discussed the installation of the well itself in the borehole, while the fourth blog discussed the installation of the gravel pack and grout seal. Now we will move on to the development of the well in this fifth blog of the series.
Deep Bedrock Wells for Municipal Use: A Series on the Process - #4) Well Gravel Packing & Grouting
Welcome to the fourth installment in our well drilling series following the construction of Monument Well 10 by Layne, A Granite Company and Lytle Water Solutions! In the first blog we talked about how the borehole for the well is drilled. In the second blog we discussed the basics of geophysical logging and well design, and in the third blog we discussed the installation of the well casing and screen in the borehole. Now that the well has been set to total depth in the borehole, it is time to go over the process of finishing the well completion with the gravel packing and grouting process.
Deep Bedrock Wells for Municipal Use: A Series on the Process - #3) Well Installation Procedures
After completing the well design, the next step in the process is the installation of the well itself into the borehole. The screen schedule specifies what depth intervals should be screened, and what depth intervals should be solid pipe casing, This blog discusses well screen, casing, installation and completion.