SPNRD looks at differences in South Platte River and Lodgepole Creek comparisons

With the upcoming information session and public hearing on Sept. 15, the South Platte NRD continues to provide information to the public utilizing the Western Water Use Management Modeling (WWUMM).

One important aspect to the WWUMM is to help define the difference between the Lodgepole Creek which flows through most of the South Platte NRD’s area of responsibility and the South Platte River which flows through the southeast corner of Deuel County near Big Springs.

“The differences between the two main bodies of water in the South Platte NRD’s area could not be more unique,” stated Thad Kuntz, principal hydrogeologist from Adaptive Resources, Inc., who has given presentations to the SPNRD board to assist with deciding the irrigation allocations for the next three year cycle beginning in 2016. “The South Platte River is a surface water fed river that relies on snow melt, storm runoff, and return flows from canals in Colorado to flow while the Lodgepole Creek is primarily ground water fed. The Creek does receive some benefit from storm runoff but it is ground water that creates any continuous flow.”

The information provided by Kuntz and the understanding of how the South Platte River and Lodgepole Creek flow are helping the SPNRD board not only in their decision for the next allocation period, but also as a tool to gage how effective the rules and regulations put into place by the board are having on the future of ground water in the SPNRD area.

A public hearing for written or oral testimony in regard to proposed changes to the SPNRD districtwide ground water management area rules and regulations will be held on Sept. 15, following an information presentation including the WWUMM and recent ground water usage and ground water level reports. The information session will begin at 5 p.m. with the public hearing following at 6:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after the information session, whichever is later, at the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds in Sidney.

To view an online presentation about the WWUMM, visit http://www.spnrd.org.