Abstract

The Fountain Creek Watershed - Surface Water Application
Track: Water Resources
Authors: Jerry Cordova

I created a web application that graphically represented The Colorado Doctrine of Prior Appropriation at the watershed level. The web application graphically represents examples of the prior appropriation system, adjudication, consumptive use and non-consumptive use, native and non-native water, return flows, and in-channel base flows. A graphic representation of The Doctrine is necessary to discuss surface water quantity issues of flooding, sedimentation, and erosion, because The Doctrine is the judicial law that regulates surface water flows; historic, current, and future. This is the "Why of the problem; why there is a quantity concern within the Fountain Creek Watershed and why political tension between Pueblo County and El Paso County exists. By creating a visual application, I hoped to 1) assist municipal water providers, or stakeholders, in managing surface water resources, 2) educate the public about The Doctrine, and 3) raise awareness of surface water quantity issues.