Irrigation water use for the Fort Lyon Canal, southeastern Colorado, 1989-90
Water-Resources Investigations Report
94-4051
By: R. G. Dash
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Abstract
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bent County Board of County Commissioners, began a study to evaluate irrigation water use quanti- tatively for about 91,630 acres of farmland irrigated from the 103.7-mile-long Fort Lyon Main Canal in the Arkansas River Valley of southeastern Colorado. This report provides information from 1980 and 1990 for four hydrologic components of irrigation water use: Surface-water withdrawals, conveyance losses, ground-water withdrawals, and estimates of threretical crop consumptive use. Surface-water withdrawals for the Fort Lyon Canal were 211,150 acre-feet (about 2.3 acre-feet per acre) during 1989 and 202,000 acre-feet (about 2.2 acre-feet per acre) during 1990. Conveyance losses occurred during the transport of water in the unlined Fort Lyon Canal. Conveyance losses were as much as 72 (acre-feet per day) per mile in the first division of the canal and generally decreased in the downstream canal divisions. Ground-water withdrawals for the Fort Lyon Canal were estimated to be 38,890 acre-feet (about 0.8 acre-foot per acre irrigated ground water) during 1989 and 33,970 acre-feet (about 0.7 acre-foot per acre irrigated by ground water) during 1990. Theoretical crop consumptive use was estimated to be 227,530 acre-feet (about 2.7 acre-feet per acre of cropland) during 1989 and 251, 130 acre-feet (about 2.9 acre-feet per acre of cropland) during 1990. The total crop irrigation requirement needed from irrigation withdrawals was 172,100 acre-feet (about 2.0 acre-feet per acre of cropland) during ` 1989 and 190,050 acre-feet (about 2.2 acre-feet per acre of cropland) during 1990. Crops cultivted in the five divisions of the canal were alfalfa, sorghum, corn, wheat, pasture, and spring grains.
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Irrigation water use for the Fort Lyon Canal, southeastern Colorado, 1989-90 |
| Series title | Water-Resources Investigations Report |
| Series number | 94-4051 |
| DOI | 10.3133/wri944051 |
| Edition | - |
| Year Published | 1995 |
| Language | ENGLISH |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey : USGS Earth Science Information Center, Open-File Reports Section [distributor], |
| Description | vii, 47 p. :ill., maps ;28 cm. |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |