Glass half empty

Water in Wyoming is inarguably one of the most important natural resources, so it was disappointing that only a handful of people attended the open house for the Platte River Basin Plan (Plan) Jan. 27.

The open house, the first of three to be held to let the public know the progress of the Plan was held at the Saratoga/Encampment/Rawlins Conservation District (SERCD) board room with representatives from the Wyoming Water Development Commission (WWDC), WENCK Associates, the Wyoming State Engineer's Office (SEO) and Anderson Consulting Engineers Inc.,

Jodie Pavlica, the project manager for the WWDC, said the River Basin Planning was developed when the state legislature set aside money in 1999 with the intent of having a water resources inventory for the state of Wyoming.

The first time a Platte River Basin Planning study was done was in 2006, Pavlica said.

Inventory research

The study is intended to find how much water the state has, where it is being used and where there are surpluses and shortages, Pavlica said.

This year, an analysis for recreation and environmental uses are added to the study.

The results of the study will help the state, along with entities like SERCD, manage the water.

"This study is intended to be an update (to the 2006 study)," Pavlica said.

The WWDC acquires information from the SEO to calculate the specific use of water for irrigated lands and from municipalities to see the use of water per capita.

The WWDC does their own survey from 50,000 feet in the air which is used to determine where irrigation takes place and where it doesn't.

Once the information is collected and analyzed, it is uploaded to the WWDC's website and is available to the public.

The consumption use value will be used to determine where there are surpluses and shortages and allows other agencies like SERCD to come in and have the information to make water management decisions later.

A comment card is on the website waterplan.state.wy.us for people who have questions or concerns.

Pavlica said the basin plan is a very open process. "We have built a level of trust with the community. We are not the new kids on the block and it certainly is an open process," Pavlica said.

Any person can ask any question or make a comment at any time, she added.. "That is why we are out here, the guy on the ground knows better what is going on in his area than we do, so we encourage (the input)."

The project, which is slated be completed June 30, 2016, will publish results on their website.

WENCK Associates role is to gather data from existing sources and update any data that has changed from the 2006 plan. Once the data is collected it is analyzed to see what new opportunities and issues exist and look at how water use has worked together or against each other, Dylan Wade, Project Manager for WENCK Associates, said.

Pavlica said since WWDC is a sponsored agency, WENCK is collecting the information for them. WWDC can't do anything with the data until they receive an application from a sponsoring agency like SERCD.

Deadlines for funding applications are Aug. 15 of each year.

The Watershed Study

Jay Schug of Anderson Consulting Engineering, Inc., is the project manager for the Watershed Study and was at the Platte River Basin Plan open house.

Schug said the Watershed Study has three main tasks

The first is to collect as much of the available information as they can.

The second task is to meet with irrigators and livestock producers. "We don't go anywhere we are not asked to go," Schug said. "We will assess their needs as far as water goes."

The third task is to plan projects to solve problems and assist in applying for the funding of that project.

"We identify water resource-related issues in the inventory phase and then come up with project to help solve those problems in the plan," Schug said.

Anderson consulting can help ranchers assess and design solutions for problematic headgates and projects for spring improvements according to Schug.

Once the design is completed, they can guide the applicant in the application for state funding.

Grant money can be put into the hands of the individual through the conservation district for funding from the state.

The program is becoming more popular, Schug said.

The scoping meeting was held in September at the Platte Valley Community Center. The Watershed Study is expected to be completed in November of 2015. Most of the work that has been done since the scoping meeting has been data collection, Schug said.

"Anyone who is interested can call me," Schug said. "We can come out and discuss their specific needs." Schug can be reached at 970-226-0120.

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories about the Platte River Basin Plan. Several local entities have an interest in the study including the U.S. Forest Service, SERCD and Trout Unlimited. The Saratoga Sun will report on how the Platte River Basin Plan assists these entities in the planning process.