As some of you may be aware, we are in a drought situation and
water coming into our system is only running between 4.25 c.f.s. to 3.8 c.f.s. It
has been confirmed by our water commissioner that snow melt has already occurred
and we should not anticipate an increase of water in the creek.
Irrigations started the week of 4/15/20. Brush Hollow Reservoir’s
level was at 81 feet. A full Reservoir is 93 feet. We opened the reservoir to
deliver through out the system, 10 heads of irrigation water for distribution.
After 1 month of irrigating the reservoir is now at 77 feet. We are obligated
to keep 500 AF for Penrose Water District’s domestic water storage and 250 AF for
Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s fish pool. That being said, we have approximately
7 -10 feet of the Reservoir that can be used for irrigation.
As promised, we started irrigations with those shareholders
that did not receive three irrigations last year. This process has caused some
concern as water has been in and out of lines that shareholders typically
receive their irrigation water from. However, this system of delivering water
to those who have been without water the longest seems to be fair and
equitable.
For those shareholders that can only receive water from the
upper ditch, we will do our best to distribute irrigation water as it is available
in the upper canal. It may be a long drawn out process due to the low volume,
but we will continue to do our best to provide what is available.
Last year we were experiencing this same issue, the difference is last year we had rain. This year we have not have any significant
measurable rain for 3 months. The lack of rain potentially will interrupt irrigations.
We are hoping this does not occur.
Please Pray for rain !
