RBC | White River basin water users upstream from Taylor Draw Dam at Kenney Reservoir have been notified that the Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District is planning to request another call on the White River.
Once flows at the dam’s hydropower turbine are consistently below 700 cubic feet per second (CFS), a call will be initiated, said Colorado Department of Natural Resources Division Engineer Erin Light. The call is expected to remain in effect until higher flows resume.
A call impacts water users upstream for the White River and its tributaries — Piceance Creek, Little Beaver, etc.–“anything that drains into the White,” said Lead Water Commissioner Betty Kracht.
The call will be administered based on a priority system. “Each diversion will only be allowed to take its decreed amount of water that is senior to the Taylor Draw Dam’s call,” stated an email sent to property owners in July. Additionally, any ditch or pump that does not have a measuring device will be shut off. Property owners have been urged to install measuring devices for several years, but as many as 60% of water right holders across the entire basin have not complied.
In board meetings, the Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District has stated that the reasoning behind placing a call on the river is related to revenue generation for the hydroelectric plant.
“We are just flat out seeing lower water in the system,” Light said, referencing calls placed on the Yampa River basin in 2018, 2020 and 2021.
Property owners who need information about their water rights and priority numbers can call Kracht at 970-439-8008 or Deputy Water Commissioner Debbie Raley at 970-706-9785 for assistance.
Information about active calls, water rights and more is also available online at https://dwr.state.co.us/tools.
BY NIKI TURNER | [email protected]
