A meeting was held at 2:00 pm on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011 in the conference room of DEREA in Beryl. Attending from the state were: State Engineer Kent Jones, and staff members Kurt Vest, James Greer, and Jared Manning. The water users in attendance were: LaDel Laub, Mike Brown, Kerry Holt, Bob Holt, Steve Jones, Mike Singleton, and Lee Bracken.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the draft Beryl / Enterprise Groundwater Management Plan document. The document was essentially read and reviewed in detail. Some of the key points and items considered:
The approximate time frame estimated to achieve the safe yield objective may take up to a 31,000 acre feet reduction in depletion and may take up to 120 years. An adaptive management concept will be incorporated that will allow for amending the scheduled reductions if equilibrium or balance is achieved before the end date.
The depletion calculations will be made by the distribution system commissioner annually. The baseline for the survey will assume all acreage was in the highest consumptive water use of alfalfa. It was noted that the conversion of approximately 1700 acres from alfalfa to corn this year has already achieved nearly half of the needed depletion reduction. It was further noted that irrigation techniques and crop conversions can potentially achieve the goal for the first 20 years of the plan. It was agreed that ultimately it will require a reduction in acreage to reach the final objective.
The document does not address culinary or domestic. Internally the water users will have to resolve this matter and also the equity of some agricultural water users contributing a greater level of conservation than others. It was noted that forming a local management district may help to address both of these matters and several other challenges with managing water rights other than by priority.
A meeting is being scheduled by the State Engineer for Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011 at 7:00 PM at he Enterprise High School auditorium. It is expected that about 50 water users and over 500 culinary users will receive invitations. Following that meeting another notice will be given and another comment period identified before the final adoption of the plan.
There was a general favorable attitude of partnership and agreement with both the document and the approach being taken. All seemed to agree that having a groundwater management plan in place will bring to some certainty to the future of the valley. The notice of meeting and the DRAFT Groundwater Management Plan can be found on the EVWUA website.
