p. 1



# OAR Box 1781 Prepped by Ollie Stewart



### Document

Number: 

# 25)11-1-1 7 Docket Number: 

# A-90-3 7

Printed 10/29/2008 10:46:19 AM Sheet 25of 142P. 2 

# TZ A TE D ZORIC H & ASSOCIATES

. INC

. " & SOUT H CANOS

ACOUR T ENGIEWOOC XCOLORAD O 8011 0 CONSULTIN G ENGINEER S I N WATE R RESOURCE S (303 ) 761-143* 4

-^*SE53a4» f ' 

## Ma y26 , 

## 198 9 

## _. _-, 

## rf- 

## fy-3 

## 7

" ; 

## . 7

'

## :k

## 2 5 K S Mr . Dan Zunic h Cimarro n Chemica l Inc . 140 0 Pos t Oak Blvd . 62 5 Houston , Texa s 7705 6 Re : TZA' s Repor t Title d "Groun d Wate r Suppl yAssessmen t fo r •Propose d Cogeneratio n Facilit ynea r Springfield , Colorado , January , 1989 " Dea r Mr . Zunich : Thi s lette r ha s been prepared i n respons e t o your question s abou t th e effect s o f increased wate r requirement s upo n th e groun d wate r suppl ya t the cogeneratio n plan t site , an d t o provid e additiona l informatio n abou t alternative source s o f supply . BACKGROUND Ground wate r supplie s ca n potentiall ybe obtaine d fromfou r wate r bearing formation s i n the Southern HighPlain s are a o f southeaster n Colorado . Th e Ogallal a formatio n overlie s muc ho f th e are a a s a thi n venee r o f unconsolidate d surficia l deposits . Onl ylocalize d area s hav e sufficien t saturate d thicknes s t o suppor t highcapacit y wells . Th e Dakota , Cheyenne , an d Docku msandston e formation s underli e th e surficia l deposits . Wel l yield s from thes e sandston e formation s var

ywidel ydue t o change s in percentage s o f shal e an d clay , exten t o f fracturing , an d degre e o f cementatio n (Richard s et.al. , 1968) . Tota l acreag e irrigated wit hgroun d wate r supplie s i n Bac a County increase d fro

m 1,70 0 t o 85,00 0 acre s betwee n 194 9 an d 197 4 (Youn

g et.al. , 1982) . Muc ho f thi s irrigatio n developmen t occurre d durin g the 1960's . Wate r tabl e elevation s i n al l th e aquifer s have decline d continuousl ysinc e irrigatio n developmen t began , du e t o pumpag e exceeding the recharg e rate s t o th e aquifer s (Youn g et.al. , 1982 ; Borma n et.al. , 1980) . Discussion s wit hloca l resident s indicat e tha t wate r level s in the are a hav e recentl ybegu n t o ris e somewhat . W e expec t tha t thi s i s du e primaril yt o th e dramati c decreas e i n th e us e o f well s fo r irrigatio n tha t resulted fromth e recen t downturn i n the agricultura l economy . However , a reviva l o f irrigate d agricultur e in th e are a woul d n o doub t resul t i n continue d decline s i n groun d wate r levels .

426_cima\zun1ch. 7P. 3

Mr . Dan Zunic h Ma y26 , 198 9 Pag e 3 . thicknes s wer e mappe d b yBorma n et.al . (1984) , an d ar e show

n on th e attache d figure . W e recommend tha t Cimarro n conside r onl ythos e area s wit ha t leas t 10 0 fee t o f saturate d thicknes s t o safeguard agains t futur e wate r leve l declines . Th e locatio n closes t t o the plan t sit e whic hmeet s thi s criteri a i s i n Townshi p 3 1 South , Rang e 4 4 West . Section s 12 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 21 , 30 , 33 , an d 3 4 appea r t o overli e th e portion s o f th e Ogallal a wit hth e greates t saturate d thicknes s in the immediat e area , according t o record s fro mexisting well s (Richard s et.al. , 1968) . Cimarro n shoul d plan t o acquir e a t leas t 64 0 acre s containing two o r mor e good well s i n th e abov e describe d are a t o suppor t sustaine d pumping a t a rat e o f 6 0 gp m(9 7 acre-fee t pe r year) . Well s located o n propertie s considere d fo r purchas e shoul d be thoroughl ytested in orde r t o verif yproductio n capacitie s an d evaluat e the curren t aquife r conditions . W e woul d be please d t o submi t a proposa l fo r performing furthe r evaluation s o' f alternativ e wate r suppl ysources , i f you s o desire . Pleas e cal l i f yo u hav e furthe r question s o r desir e additiona l information . Sincerely ,

Bruc e E . Kroeker , P.E . BEK/kma attachment s

426_c1nia\2unich. 7P. 4

REFERENCE S Borman , R.G. , T.S . Meredith , an d S.M . Bryn . 1984 . Geology , Altitude , an

d Dept ho f the Bedroc k Surface ; Altitud e o f the Wate r Tabl e in 1980 ; an d Saturate d Thicknes s o f the Ogallal a Aquife r in 1980'i n the Southern HighPlain s o f Colorado . U.S . Geologica l Survey . Atla s HA-673 . Hershey , L.A. , an

d E.R . Hampton . 1974 . Geohydrolog yo f Bac a an

d Southern Prower s Counties , Southeastern Colorado . U.S . Geologica l Survey . Wate r Resource s Investigation s 16-74 . Ope n Fil e Report . Richards , D.B. , L.A . Hershey , an d R.K . Glanzman . 1968 . Hydrogeologi c Dat a fo r Bac a an d Southern Prower s Counties , Colorado . Colorad o Wate r Conservatio n Board Basi c Dat a Releas e No . 19 . Young , R.A. , R.A . Longenbaugh , an d L.R . Conklin . 1982 . Energ yan d Wate r Scarcit yan

d the Irrigate d Agricultura l Econom yo f the Colorad o HighPlains : Direc t Economi c an d Hydrologi c Impac t Forecast s (197 9 - 2020) . Colorad o Wate r Resource s Researc h Institute .

426_cima\zun1ch. 7