DeWeese Storage

There are six parties who presently have an interest in Lake DeWeese.   The money derived from the storage agreements was used to offset the cost of repairing the dam in 1999

1.    DeWeese Dye Ditch and Reservoir Company owns the land under and surrounding the lake in addition we own the property below the dam down to the county road.  We are responsible for the maintenance and operation of the dam and head gates. 

DeWeese-Dye Storage Rights

Our storage rights are one fill under the Winter Water storage agreement for 1771 acre feet based on the  October 8, 1901 priority and one natural fill under the same priority, for a total of 3542 acre feet

Storage RightsAcre FeetDate of Decree
Dam1771October 8, 1901
Dam991.6March 1, 1914
Dam1564May 14,1931

2. Game and Fish paid $500,000 for 500 AF for a conservation pool, we pay the evaporation on their stored water This water is unusable for irrigation because of the mud discharged when the lake is that low. In addition to owning half of the boating rights and the fishing rights on the lake they presently lease the surrounding property for a recreation area.

3. BLM can store up to 500 AF of water if space is available, they use their water to keep some water in the creek during our storage period, we used to shut the head gate off and dry up the creek. They had water in the Pueblo reservoir they wanted to use for this program. We agreed that we would get 30% of any water they stored in the lake. So the water they had in Pueblo was used to help make our 2250 obligation to the Colorado Canal (Colorado Springs) We then transfer the same amount to BLM from our stored water in the lake less 30 % In a normal year we buy water from SEWCD and then BLM reimburses us for the water, this water is then exchanged up to the lake in late summer when the lake is down and room is available, whatever is exchanged we get 30%. Another benefit to using there water for payback is we do not have the 5% transportation loss if we released the water from the lake and sent it to the Colorado Canal.

4. UAWCD We gave them 10 AF of storage in exchange for 100 AF of water each year

5. 358 Acre feet of storage space was purchase by Round Mountain Water District at a cost of $358,000 to compensate for the water they are removing from the creek through their wells. Their purchased water is stored in the reservoir and is released by the Water Commissioner during the year, making up for the water that Round Mountain does not return to the creek

6. Half of the boating rights are owned by the owners of the property at the DeWeese Village, this allows the property owners water ski and use other craft making wakes.

Winter storage

We are allowed to store water from November 15 to March 15 each year under a Winter Water Storage Agreement.  Under this program we can close our head gate and store all of the water coming down Grape Creek from November 15 to March 15.  Without this agreement, we could not store unless the call on the river was over 1901.  Our shareholders should understand the benefit we receive from the program and recognize without this agreement; there would be winters when we could store very little water

W2250 Winter Storage Program

Historically the large canals east of Pueblo consistently stored and irrigated throughout the winter season.    In spite of the difficulties involved, winter irrigation was found to be beneficial towards maintaining soil moisture for the next season’s crop.  Ultimately it was determined that the same or greater benefit could be derived by storing these same waters during the winter and having this additional water available during the summer irrigation season.  

The design of the Frying pan-Arkansas Project included Pueblo Reservoir as its principal regulating reservoir.   Pueblo Reservoir was designed to have sufficient storage space to allow for the storage of these winter waters.

Following completion of Pueblo Reservoir in the 1970’s the canal companies East of Pueblo began a winter storage program instead of the historic practice of direct winter irrigation.    Each company was allocated a certain percentage of total diversions to storage from the river.  In 1990 this “Winter Water Storage Program” was finally decreed by the Water Court.  One of the things this decree required was a fixed call date for water on the river of March 1, 1910.

Historically the call during the earlier periods of winter irrigation was typically anywhere from 1884-1906.

The Colorado Canal Company was often one of these calling water rights with a 1890 call date.

This more junior 1910 fixed call would allow upstream junior storage rights to store more water than historically occurred or was allowed.  This would include the 1901 storage right for DeWeese Reservoir.

In exchange for this greater opportunity to store water these upstream storage entities agreed to pay back to the Colorado Canal Company a total of 2,250 acre-feet of the total amount of water that these upstream entities stored each season.  

This 2,250 acre-foot repayment amount is divided proportionally between the upstream entities relative to the amount of water each entity stored that winter.  This 2,250 acre-foot repayment is typically released or traded to the Colorado Canal Company following the winter storage season in March or April by each upstream entity.

The instruments are in place and working at the reservoir.  http://resources.uawcd.com/data_reservoir.php    Instructions: Select the DeWeese Reservoir and click on data. It looks like nothing happened but then scroll down to see data. You can also look at the inflow above the lake and the outflow below the lake, however it is not accurate during the winter due to ice in the water.

See how much water is in the lake: 

The report page does not show the 76 ahead of the water level as the chart does so 64.12 is 7664 then read the AF in the column below 0.1

 

Elevation Above           
Sea Level           
 00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.9Tenths

7678 ft

4441

          

7677 ft.

4184

4209

4235

4261

4288

4312

4338

4363

4389

4415

AF

7676 ft.

3926

3952

3978

4003

4029

4055

4080

4108

4132

4158

AF

7675 ft.

3634

3663

3692

3721

3750

3809

3738

3867

3896

3326

AF

7674 ft

3364

3391

3418

3445

3472

3499

3526

3553

3580

3607

AF

7673 ft.

3112

3137

3162

3187

3212

3238

3263

3288

3313

3338

AF

7672 ft.

2875

2896

2922

2946

2969

2993

3017

3040

3064

3088

AF

7671 ft.

2548

2670

2693

2716

2738

2761

2784

2805

2829

2852

AF

7670 ft.

2430

2451

2473

2495

2517

2539

2560

2582

2604

2626

AF

7669 ft

2223

2243

2264

2285

2305

2325

2347

2367

2388

2409

AF

7668 ft

2023

2043

2063

2083

2103

2123

2143

2163

2183

2203

AF

7667 ft.

1836

1854

1873

1892

1910

1929

1948

1966

1985

2004

AF

7666 ft.

1663

1680

1697

1714

1732

1749

1766

1784

1801

1818

AF

7665 ft

1501

1517

1533

1549

1565

1582

1596

1614

1630

1646

AF

7664 ft.

1349

1364

1379

1394

1409

1425

1440

1455

1470

1485

AF

7663 ft

1209

1223

1237

1251

1265

1279

1293

1307

1321

1335

AF

7662 ft.

1080

1092

1105

1118

1131

1144

1157

1170

1183

1196

AF

7661 ft.

962

973

985

997

1009

1021

1032

1044

1056

1068

AF

7660 ft.

853

863

874

886

896

907

918

929

940

951

AF

7659 ft.

752

762

772

782

792

804

812

822

832

842

AF

7658 ft.

660

669

678

687

696

706

715

724

733

742

AF

7657 ft.

577

585

593

602

610

618

626

634

643

651

AF

7656 ft

502

510

517

525

532

539

547

554

561

569

AF

7655 ft.

434

441

448

455

461

468

475

482

488

495

AF

7654 ft.

372

378

384

390

397

403

409

415

421

428

AF

7653 ft.

313

319

325

331

337

342

348

354

360

366

AF

7652 ft.

259

264

269

275

280

286

291

297

302

308

AF

7651 ft.

208

213

218

223

228

233

238

243

248

253

AF

7650 ft.

162

166

171

175

180

185

189

194

198

203

AF

7649 ft.

120

124

128

132

136

141

145

149

153

157

AF

7648 ft.

84

87

91

94

98

102

105

109

112

116

AF

7647 ft.

57

60

63

66

69

72

75

78

81

84

AF

7646 ft.

34

37

39

41

43

45

47

50

52

54

AF

7645 ft.

18

20

21

22

24

25

27

28

29

31

AF