It has been a very eventful month starting with a
Superintendent change. The Board of Directors has chosen Connie Johnson as the
new Superintendent replacing Tom Lilze. Her contact number is 371-4312. With
that change, unfortunately Jay Williams hired as ditch rider early in March for
the East side deliveries only stayed with us for two weeks, therefore leaving
us two open ditch rider positions. We have been successful in receiving a
significant number of applications and interviews are in process. We are in
hopes to offer employment to the top candidates prior to irrigation beginning.
Two previous ditch riders have offered their services to assist in training the
new ditch riders. This will provide Connie the ability to oversee the entire
system and concentrate on the Superintendent’s functions to ensure irrigations
are delivered as efficiently as possible.
The upper ditch re-lining project has been completed for
now. Water has been flowing into Brush Hollow Reservoir and the reservoir is
currently at 80 ft. This is down from where we started irrigation last year;
however we are hopeful to receive snow melt this year. The canals are in the
process of being cleaned and debris removed and hauled away. Current scheduling
to begin water is the middle of April. Those who have not done so, please
prepare your pipes to receive water when deliveries start.
It is impossible to forecast how just many irrigations we
will be able to deliver this year. Overall the state of Colorado has received
significant snowfall and many areas that were listed as drought impacted areas
are currently abnormally dry to moderate drought. The Arkansas River basin will
receive most of benefit from the snow pack. However, our water rights are from
the South side of Pikes Peak and the snow pack in that area is not comparable
to the other areas around the state. We are hopeful that April will provide us
with either snow or rain. March precipitation in Penrose was .50 of an inch of
moisture. We could use plenty more. As in the past we need to pray that Mother
Nature provides this year.
We are in the process of preparing a list of Shareholders
that do not have a contact number in their profiles. It is imperative that we
have this information, as ditch riders will not be able to contact you for
scheduling of irrigation water. If you are not sure if your contact numbers are
in our system, or have been recently updated please contact the office
immediately. This could directly impact and delay your ability to receive
water. Please call 372-3664. Thank you.
