Powder/Tongue River Basin Water Plan
Technical Memoranda
| SUBJECT: |
Appendix A
Irrigation Diversion Operation and Description |
|
| PREPARED BY: |
HKM Engineering Inc. |
|
| DATE: |
March 2002 |
INTRODUCTION
In accordance with the scope of services, an inventory of the diversions located within the Powder River
and Tongue River Basins were completed. This inventory is intended to be used for future planning and to
provide information for water availability modeling of the basins.
DIVERSION SELECTION
The initial selection of diversions to be inventoried was based on a review of the State Engineer's Office
hydrographers' annual reports. Those ditches with a recorded diversion of 10 cfs or greater were selected.
The list of these diversions was submitted to the State Engineer's Office Division Two superintendent and
hydrographers/commissioners for review and refinement. The commissioners eliminated several
diversions and added others. Finally, to ensure that the data summarized here fully represented the
drainages in the Powder/Tongue River Basin, commissioners were asked to add the ditches they
considered key to the water use in the drainages. The resulting list of diversions provides a broad
coverage of data and the significant data available on diversion operations in the Powder/Tongue River
Basin.
METHODOLOGY
Data Gathering for Operation Memoranda
Each of the major ditches listed were visited in the field. During these field inspections, points of
diversion and flow measurement facilities were photographed and located with a Garmin GPS II Plus
handheld GPS unit. The removal of the selective availability dithering in May, 2000 and its capacity for
averaging readings over time gave this handheld GPS receiver the ability to receive locations to within
+/- 12 feet in many cases. These measurements are provided for general location purposes only; no
guarantee can be made of their accuracy.
Travel with a hydrographer/commissioner was required in most cases to access Powder/Tongue River
Basin headgates and flow measurement devices. In parts of the northern Powder/Tongue River Basin,
area landowners were relied upon to obtain the necessary data. Follow-up interviews with landowners and
all commissioners provided the supplemental information used in the following technical reports detailing
each diversion.
Compilation of Diversion Records
In accordance with the scope of services, diversion records have been compiled for the selected ditches as
defined in the preceding section. The diversion records when associated with the acreage served will
provide a basis for determining the actual water use for irrigation in the study area. Actual water use is
commonly significantly less than theoretical water use based on crop consumptive irrigation
requirements, waste/seepage, deep percolation, and conveyance losses. This is expected to be especially
true within this study area where forage crops rather than cash crops constitute the predominant demand
for irrigation water. Information on actual monthly water use for irrigation is important to the
development of water availability models that realistically simulate existing conditions in the area.
Records of ditch diversions are available in several forms and from several sources as summarized below.
The records for the sites maintained by the Wyoming State Engineer's Office (SEO) are contained in the
Hydrographers' Annual Reports beginning in 1980.
- Records of total monthly diversion volumes are available for several ditches equipped with
continuous flow recorders. These records are available for a number of sites maintained by the SEO
as well as a few sites maintained by the United States Geological Society (USGS). The USGS
records were obtained directly from the local USGS office in Cheyenne or from USGS Water
Resources Data publications.
- Records of total monthly diversion volume are available from the SEO for some ditches with
periodic, instantaneous measurements (spot measurements). In these instances, SEO personnel have
made estimates of missing daily values to complete the monthly records.
- Pre-1980 records of daily and monthly diversions are available through the Water Resources Data
System (WRDS) database for several of the ditches.
- Records of periodic, instantaneous measurements (spot measurements) are available from the SEO for
many ditches in the study area. HKM estimated the missing daily diversion records for these ditches
to estimate the total monthly diversion volumes.
In many cases, monthly diversion volumes for a given ditch may be derived from multiple forms of data
and from multiple sources. Where records of various forms or from various sources are available for a
concurrent period of time, for a given ditch, monthly volumes from USGS continuous flow records are
given preference, monthly volumes from SEO continuous flow records are then used when available, and
monthly volumes derived from SEO spot measurements are then used as necessary to complete the
record. Monthly diversion volumes from the WRDS database are used to the extent available to fill-out
the record prior to 1980 when diversion records were first published in the Hydrographers' Annual
Reports.
The SEO has not developed a numbering system for the measurement sites. This presented a significant
challenge in completing this task. Records are identified in the Hydrographers' Annual Reports only by
the name of the ditch. Unfortunately, these names sometimes change over time. It therefore becomes
very difficult to determine if the different names relate to a different site or a change in the name of a
given site. To solve this problem, sites with similar names were summarized on tracking forms for all 20
years of record by listing the site name, source, district, and size of the Parshall measuring flume for each
year. This information generally provided the clues necessary to make the determination. HKM also
maintained close contact with Mike Whitaker, the Water Division II superintendent, and hydrographer /
commissioners Carmine LoGuidice and Bill Knapp when questions arose.
The total monthly diversion volumes as calculated by the SEO and USGS or available from the WRDS
database (categories 1, 2 and 3 above) are recorded directly on the diversion data summary sheets as
provided herein with each respective ditch. The methodology used in estimating missing daily diversion
rates and total monthly diversion volumes at spot measurement sites (category 4 above) is discussed in
the following section. The resulting monthly diversion volumes for these sites are also recorded on the
diversion data summary sheets for each ditch.
Interviews with landowners, ditch maintenance personnel, and SEO staff provided return flow amounts
and locations where available.
ESTIMATED DAILY DIVERSION RATES AND MONTHLY DIVERSION VOLUMES
The monthly diversion volumes listed on the diversion data summary sheets derived from spot
measurements were calculated using the following technique:
Daily diversion data were compiled for each year and each pertinent ditch from the Hydrographers'
Annual Reports.
Example: Moreton Ditch, 1992:
| Date |
Flow (cfs) |
Date |
Flow (cfs) |
Date |
Flow (cfs) |
| 5/4 |
5.36 |
8/1 |
1.80 |
8/28 |
1.26 |
| 5/11 |
1.26 |
8/5 |
13.05 |
8/31 |
1.26 |
| 5/15 |
10.16 |
8/7 |
12.38 |
9/2 |
1.26 |
| 5/18 |
0.00 (off) |
8/10 |
7.53 |
9/8 |
7.53 |
| 5/26 |
18.60 |
8/15 |
11.25 |
9/9 |
7.15 |
| 5/29 |
16.00 |
8/17 |
2.15 |
9/11 |
7.53 |
| 6/1 |
0.00 (off) |
8/19 |
2.39 |
9/14 |
7.53 |
| 6/3 |
3.77 |
8/21 |
2.78 |
9/16 |
1.80 |
| 6/5 |
1.27 |
8/24 |
2.39 |
9/21 |
2.15 |
| 6/12 |
0.00 (off) |
8/26 |
2.92 |
9/23 |
2.15 |
| 7/31
| 1.26
|
|
|
|
|
Lacking more information, it was assumed that the first date listed in the Annual Report is the date the
ditch was turned on (i.e. there was no flow before that date), and the last date listed is the date that the
ditch was turned off (i.e. there was no flow after that date). This assumption may result in an
overestimate of the annual diversion volume in some cases but more typically would result in an
underestimate where diversions at the beginning and end of the season are truncated from the record.
The ditch flow for each missing day from the first to the last readings was found by linear interpolation.
The interpolation process requires a judgement regarding the maximum number of days between recorded
ditch flows for which interpolated estimates will be made. For periods with more than this number of
days without flow measurements, the month or months containing those dates are left blank and are
considered missing. If the maximum number is set too low, the resulting monthly volumes calculated
will contain many missing values. If the maximum number is set too high, interpolation will be attempted
over an unreasonably long time period. Based on a review of the available data, a maximum of 52 days
was selected as the allowable maximum between measurement dates for interpolation to occur. A
summary of the maximum number of missing days is provided along with the first and last dates of
measured diversions for each ditch.
After the missing daily flows are estimated, the total monthly diversion volumes are calculated by
summing the estimated and measured values for each respective month.
Example: Moreton Ditch, 1992:
| Date |
Flow (cfs) |
Date |
Flow (cfs) |
Date |
Flow (cfs) |
Date |
Flow (cfs) |
| 5/1 |
|
5/10 |
1.85 |
5/19 |
2.33 |
5/26 |
18.60 |
| 5/2 |
|
5/11 |
1.26 |
5/20 |
4.65 |
5/27 |
17.73 |
| 5/3 |
|
5/12 |
3.45 |
5/21 |
6.98 |
5/28 |
16.87 |
| 5/4 |
5.36 |
5/13 |
5.71 |
5/22 |
9.30 |
5/29 |
16.00 |
| 5/5 |
4.77 |
5/14 |
7.94 |
5/23 |
11.63 |
5/30 |
10.67 |
| 5/6 |
4.19 |
5/15 |
10.16 |
5/24 |
13.95 |
5/31 |
5.33 |
| 5/7 |
3.60 |
5/16 |
6.77 |
5/25 |
16.28 |
|
|
| 5/8 |
3.02 |
5/17 |
3.39 |
Total for May (cfs) |
214.23 |
| 5/9 |
2.43 |
5/18 |
0.00 |
May (AF) |
424.92 |
Notes: Shaded figures are interpolated.
Total for May (cfs): This figure is the sum of the daily values.
May (AF): This figure is the total cubic feet per second (cfs) for May converted to acre-feet.
Average, maximum, and minimum values for the period of record are calculated for each month of the
irrigation season.
The raw spot measurement data is extensive and is therefore not provided in this memorandum. This
information is available in digital form and can be provided if necessary.
The ditches included in this memorandum are as follows (Figure 1):
Memo
Section |
Name of Site |
Map
Location
Number |
Sub-
Basin |
Source |
Headgate Location |
| Lat. |
Long. |
Big
Goose
Creek |
Alliance Ditch Diversion |
2 |
Tongue |
Big Goose Cr. |
N 44° 42' 9.9'' |
W 107° 10' 48.3'' |
Big Goose & Beaver No. 1 Ditch
Diversion |
5 |
Tongue |
East Fork Big
Goose Cr. |
N 44° 40' 12.0'' |
W 107° 9' 19.1'' |
Big Goose & Beaver No. 2 Ditch
Diversion |
5 |
Tongue |
Rapid Cr. |
Grinnell Ditch Diversion on Big
Goose Creek |
21 |
Tongue |
Big Goose Cr. |
N 44° 49' 26.0'' |
W 106° 57' 56.2'' |
| Park Diversion Ditch |
45 |
Tongue |
East Fork Big
Goose Cr. |
N 44° 34' 12.2'' |
W 107° 12' 37.9'' |
| PK (Patrick) Ditch Diversion |
51 |
Tongue |
Big Goose Cr. |
N 44° 41' 47.6'' |
W 107° 11' 24.8'' |
Sheridan City Intakes - Big
Goose Canyon Diversion |
62 |
Tongue |
Big Goose Cr. |
N 44° 41' 46.8'' |
W 107° 11' 15.6'' |
Columbus
Creek |
Five Mile Ditch Diversion |
16 |
Tongue |
Columbus Cr. |
N 44° 55' 1.2'' |
W 107° 22' 15.4'' |
Little
Goose
Creek |
Burn Cleuch Ditch Diversion |
7 |
Tongue |
Little Goose Cr. |
N 44° 43' 40.6'' |
W 106° 56' 37.7'' |
| Colorado Colony Ditch Diversion |
33 |
Tongue |
Little Goose Cr. |
N 44° 35' 46.4'' |
W 107° 2' 20.8'' |
| Gerdel Ditch Diversion |
20 |
Tongue |
Little Goose Cr. |
N 44° 41' 30.0'' |
W 106° 58' 59.0'' |
| Last Chance Ditch Diversion |
10 |
Tongue |
Little Goose Cr. |
N 44° 37' 41.8'' |
W 107° 1' 44.7'' |
Peralta Ditch Diversion (&
Mountain Supply Ditch
Diversion) |
40, 48 |
Tongue |
Little Goose Cr. |
N 44° 32' 47.7'' |
W 107° 12' 37.4'' |
Tongue
River |
High Line Ditch Diversion |
24 |
Tongue |
Tongue River |
N 44° 50' 48.9'' |
W 107° 18' 50.7'' |
Interstate (Pennoyer) Ditch
Diversion |
27 |
Tongue |
Tongue River |
N 44° 56' 22.5'' |
W 106° 57' 42.8'' |
OZ & K & Hanover Ditch
Diversion |
44 |
Tongue |
Tongue River |
N 44° 52' 49.2'' |
W 107° 15' 29.9'' |
| South Side Ditch Diversion |
64 |
Tongue |
Tongue River |
N 44° 51' 24.7'' |
W 107° 17' 48.3'' |
Tongue River No. 1 Ditch
Diversion |
69 |
Tongue |
Tongue River |
N 44° 50' 57.8'' |
W 107° 18' 13.5'' |
| York Ditch Diversion |
72 |
Tongue |
Tongue River |
N 44° 52' 57.1'' |
W 107° 13' 43.9'' |
Wolf
Creek |
Garrard Ditch Diversion |
19 |
Tongue |
Wolf Cr. |
N 44° 47' 22.9''
| W 107° 13' 6.2'' |
Grinnell Ditch Diversion on Wolf
Creek |
22 |
Tongue |
Wolf Cr. |
N 44° 46' 24.4'' |
W 107° 13' 55.5'' |
Clear
Creek |
Big Bonanza Ditch Diversion |
3 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 29' 32.2'' |
W 106° 33' 23.8'' |
Clear Creek Land & Ditch Co.
Ditch Diversion |
9 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 20' 2.1'' |
W 106° 42' 53.2'' |
| Crown Ditch Diversion |
12 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 19' 28.8'' |
W 106° 44' 24.6'' |
| Des Moines Ditch Diversion |
13 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 26' 52.4'' |
W 106° 34' 34.3'' |
Four Lakes & French Creek
Ditch Diversion |
17 |
Powder |
North Fork Clear
Cr. |
N 44° 20' 15.9'' |
W 106° 59' 56.6'' |
Frank G. Hopkins Ditch
Diversion |
18 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 24' 50.3'' |
W 106° 36' 2.2'' |
| Hillyer & Onslow Ditch Diversion |
25 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 24' 6.3'' |
W 106° 36' 52.2'' |
| Johnson-Holt Ditch Diversion |
29 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 19' 46.3'' |
W 106° 45' 28.9'' |
| Kendrick Ditch Diversion |
30 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 49' 47.96" |
W 106° 6' 49.67" |
Pratt & Ferris No. 2 Ditch
Diversion |
54 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 37' 1.1'' |
W 106° 24' 7.3'' |
Pratt & Ferris No. 3 Ditch
Diversion |
55 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 39' 46.7'' |
W 106° 21' 55.1'' |
| Redman Ditch Diversion |
58 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 21' 47.2'' |
W 106° 38' 59.1'' |
| Roberts Ditch Diversion |
59 |
Powder |
Clear Cr. |
N 44° 34' 40.9'' |
W 106° 27' 31.7'' |
| Six Mile Ditch Diversion |
63 |
Powder
| Clear Cr. |
N 44° 19' 44.9'' |
W 106° 45' 15.3'' | |
Crazy
Woman
Creek |
Cook Ditch Diversion |
11 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 11' 53.7" |
W 106° 46' 29.1" |
| Devoe #1 Ditch Diversion |
14 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 3' 45.9'' |
W 106° 40' 44.5'' |
| John R. Smith Ditch Diversion |
28 |
Powder
| Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 4' 12.0'' |
W 106° 36' 20.1'' | |
| Kennedy Ditch Diversion |
31 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 10' 42.6'' |
W 106° 44' 18.2'' |
| Mitchell & Long Ditch Diversion |
37 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 4' 47.2'' |
W 106° 38' 28.0'' |
| Moreton Ditch Diversion |
38 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 3' 0.5'' |
W 106° 44' 38.8'' |
| North Fork Ditch Diversion |
43 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 10' 19.2" |
W 106° 44' 48.0" |
| PX Ditch Diversion |
57 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 10' 7.7'' |
W 106° 44' 54.3'' |
| Teddy Miller Ditch Diversion |
66 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 2' 54.6'' |
W 106° 43' 7.8'' |
Thompson & Matthews Ditch
Diversion |
67 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 11' 39.5'' |
W 106° 47' 8.0'' |
Thompson Brothers Ditch
Diversion |
68 |
Powder |
Crazy Woman Cr. |
N 44° 10' 26.9'' |
W 106° 45' 50.3'' |
French
Creek |
Hopkins Ditch Diversion |
26 |
Powder |
French Cr. |
N 44° 21' 59" |
W 106° 47' 14" |
Penrose Ditch Diversion (&
Penrose Johnson Ditch
Diversion) |
46, 47 |
Powder |
French Cr. |
N 44° 21' 27.9'' |
W 106° 50' 6.4'' |
Piney
Creek |
Dunlap Ditch Diversion |
15 |
Powder |
Piney Cr. |
N 44° 34' 36.5'' |
W 106° 36' 23.0'' |
| Leiter Ditch Diversion |
34 |
Powder |
Piney Cr. |
N 44° 32' 5.6'' |
W 106° 49' 8.9'' |
| Mead & Coffeen Ditch Diversion |
36 |
Powder |
North & South
Piney Cr. |
N 44° 34' 47.1'' |
W 106° 53' 36.1'' |
| Piney & Cruse Ditch Diversion |
49 |
Powder |
North & South
Piney Cr. |
N 44° 34' 43.0'' |
W 106° 53' 11.8'' |
Piney Divide Ditch Diversion
&
Little Piney Ditch Diversion |
50 |
Powder |
South Piney Cr. |
N 44° 33' 38.3'' |
W 106° 54' 46.2'' |
| 35 |
Powder |
Little Piney Cr. |
N 44° 32' 33.3'' |
W 106° 52' 4.6'' |
| Prairie Dog Ditch Diversion |
52 |
Powder |
North & South
Piney Cr. |
N 44° 34' 40.1'' |
W 106° 52' 56.6'' |
Pratt & Ferris No. 1 Ditch
Diversion |
53 |
Powder |
Piney Cr. |
N 44° 34' 1.1'' |
W 106° 33' 27.1'' |
Rock Creek & South Piney
Diversion |
60 |
Powder |
South Piney Cr. |
N 44° 28' 21.0'' |
W 107° 1' 52.2'' |
Powder
River |
Big Four Ditch Diversion |
4 |
Powder |
Red Fork Powder
River |
N 43° 39' 32.0'' |
W 106° 47' 32.7'' |
Morgareidge & Frances Ditch
Diversion |
39 |
Powder |
North Fork
Powder River |
N 43° 52' 54.9'' |
W 106° 51' 10.6'' |
| Sahara Ditch Diversion |
61 |
Powder |
Powder River |
N 43° 41' 33.6'' |
W 106° 31' 53.0'' |
Vruwink (Kaycee) Ditch
Diversion |
71 |
Powder |
Middle Fork
Powder River |
N 43° 41' 4.6'' |
W 106° 41' 29.4'' |
Rock
Creek |
Hallie Ditch Diversion |
23 |
Powder |
Rock Cr. |
N 44° 27' 16.0'' |
W 106° 52' 11.3'' |
Lake DeSmet (M&M) Ditch
Diversion |
32 |
Powder |
Rock Cr. |
N 44° 26' 6.8'' |
W 106° 48' 55.2'' |
| Mowry Basin Ditch Diversion |
41 |
Powder |
Rock Cr. |
N 44° 26' 46.4'' |
W 106° 54' 30.7'' |
| Prince Albert Ditch Diversion |
56 |
Powder |
Rock Cr. |
N 44° 22' 16" |
W 106° 40' 25" |
Pass
Creek |
Acme Ditch Diversion |
1 |
Tongue |
Pass Cr. |
N 44° 56' 47.9'' |
W 107° 31' 16.7'' |
| Church Ditch Diversion |
8 |
Tongue |
Pass Cr. |
N 44° 57' 52.3'' |
W 107° 27' 56.3'' |
| Summit Ditch Diversion |
65 |
Tongue |
Pass Cr. |
N 44° 58' 38.4'' |
W 107° 26' 52.0'' |
| Tschirgi No. 2 Ditch Diversion |
70 |
Tongue |
Pass Cr. |
Currently a pumping diversion |
click to enlarge
|
