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WATER RESEARCH NEWS JULi ,/;
Colorado Water Congress • 1390 Logan St., Rm. 312 • Denver, Colorado 8' •' 'hone: ( 8 812
Water Research News Editor, Bill Raley GRe- .' d st•�1
NEW WATER RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY HAS PRACTICAL APPLICATION
1. Voluntary Basin-Wide Water Management Technology
For years,water right owners in some Colorado river basins have developed water
exchanges to improve basin operations and promote efficient water use. Historically,
these exchanges have been carried out in local areas within a short reach of a river.
New technology developed at CSU may help perfect this voluntary water exchange system
on a basin-wide basis. This new computer technology can accurately "simulate" the
hydraulic operation of an entire river basin surface and ground water system.
vidual water rights are accounted for and protected. Proposed water exchanges can be
d'd ry run" on the computer to test the e fect on all other water rights and determine
the feasibility before actually implementing the exchanges. Water right owners could
voluntarily band together and form basin-wide water users associations to work out
exchanges. Those individual water right owners who did not want to participate in
the exchanges could be accounted for and protected.
There are two research projects that have developed this technology as follows:
(Completion Report #89)
Dr. John Labadie, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering CSU,
has developed the "Modsim" program which is presently being tested
on the Poudre River. This program can be used to test exc!, 'rges of
storage and also trace imported water. An important feature is that
it is oriented toward users not experienced with computers.
(Technical Report #18)
Dr. Hubert Morel-Seytoux, Professor of Civil Engineering at CSU,
has developed the "South Platte Model ." This program can simulate
the interaction of surface and ground water within a basin and can
be used to test augmentation plans. The model has been developed
and accurately applied on an 81 mile reach of the South Platte River
between Balzac and Julesburg.
Both of the above programs can be used to analyze the effect of building new
reservoirs on a river basin system.
The basin computer water management technology has been developed and tested,
in the two programs described above and all that is needed now is the practical
adaptation and use of that technology by water right owners to perfect Voluntary
Basin-Wide Water Management.
2. Urban Water Management and Conservation
40% to 50% of water treated annually for urban use is applied to lawns and most
lawn owners over irrigate. As water becomes more scarce and costly, it behooves all
water users to be more diligent, including urban lawn owners. Dr. Robert Danielson,
CSU Agronomist, developed a research project to find out how people could use less
water and still maintain turf quality. Basically, Dr. Danielson developed an irriga-
tion scheduling program for turf that is very similar to irrigation scheduling for
82oz2i Y} - 7/t
WATER RESEARCH NEWS -2- July 14, 198?
agricultural crops. If water is applied to the lawn in accordance with the (ET)
evapotranspiration rate (amount of water used by the plant and also evaporated from
the leaves), lawn quality can be maintained using less water. The study also indi-
cated that even during severe drouth if no water is available for lawn irrigation,
bluegrass, properly cared for, will have no problem greening up from a brown dormant
stage once water is again available. Regular periods of mild water stress helps pro-
mote soil aeration and growth of a vigorous root system, increasing drr!uth tolerance,
and conserves water without greatly reducing quality. (Completion Report #106)
The Denver Water Department used the information from this study to develop
their "ET" lawn watering program as a supplement to the Diamond-Circle-Square every
third day schedule. Lawn owners are told via TV, radio, and newspapers how much
water is needed. Analysis of the program showed a 12% to 17% decrease in water use
during the summer of 1981. Other cities and towns have shown interest in this pro-
gram as a way of not only saving water, but also, as a way of decreasing water facility
operations costs and capital outlay.
3. Agricultural Land Waterlogging Control
A multidisciplinary team of CSU Scientists conducted research on solving the
problems of waterlogging of agricultural land in the San Luis Valley. Dr, Hubert
Morel-Seytoux, Professor of Civil Engineering; Dr. Bob Young, Professor of Economic ;
Dr. Geroge Radosevich, an attorney; and Dr. William Franklin, Associate Professor of
Agronomy, made a systematic analysis of water management strategies aimed at re u: irg
the waterlogging problem. A computer simulation model of the stream-aquifer. irriga-
tion system was used to investigate two alternative management strategies and to com-
pare their effects with past water management practices. Well fields were simulated
at La Jara Creek and at Rock Creek to study drainage (dewatering) possibilities and
effectiveness, as well as the impact of that "dewatering" on ground walair levels ;n
the region and on return flows to the river (impacts on water rights). They used
irrigation to dispose of pumped water. Soil type, rainfall , streanrflow, and ii'apore-
tion, as well as crop requirements were considered. Legal aspects effecting the
priority water rights and the Rio Grande Compact were also important features the
hydrologic model .
Historically, sub-irrigation and low-efficient irrigation methods promote surface
and underground water drainage to downslope areas continually waterlogging the soil .
This study simulated center-pivot irrigation from wells (4 pivots on each square mile)
and "dewatering" pumping in March to lower the water table in the La Jara Creek area.
In the Rock Creek area only center-pivot irrigation was simulated.--Yha Ca Jara Creek
simulation pro— ve only partially successful in lowering the water table and:;eet ni g
downstream requirements while the Rock Creek well field for center-pivot irrigation
proved reasonably successful .
This team of researchers proved that complex stream-aquifer-irrigation-legal
water system relationships can be accurately simulated so various proposed correction
methods can be tested on the computer before actual implementation. (Complet on
Report #108)
If you would like further information on the above research, please call (303)
491-5371 or write: Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, Room 203 Administra-
tion Building, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523. Please refer to
appropriate Completion or Technical Report number.
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