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Ground Water Resources
Douglas County’s Most Utilized Water Resource.
The main source of water in Douglas County comes from ground water pumped from one or more of the four aquifers of the Denver Basin. The geologic formations of the Denver Basin include the Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, and Laramie.
The diagram A-1 illustrates the location and extent of the Denver Basin with respect to water administration. As you can see, the Denver Basin extends well outside the boundaries of Douglas County. The Basin occupies approximately 6,700 square miles encompassing the Denver metropolitan area, extending north-to-south from Greeley to Colorado Springs, and west-to-east from the mountain foothills to the Town of Limon. Approximately 485 square miles of the Denver Basin underlies Douglas County.
- Denver Basin Aquifers
- Pike Rampart Aquifers
- What is an aquifer?
- Aquifer Storage and Recovery Programs
Surface Water Systems
Major Surface Water Systems in Douglas County
Annual Runoff - Front Range Rivers
Colorado is hydraulically divided into nine major river basins, one of which is the South Platte River Basin. Bounded by the Continental Divide to the west, the basin includes all of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Gilpin, Jefferson, Morgan and Weld Counties. The South Platte River Basin drains nearly a 19,000 square mile area in the northeastern quarter of Colorado. Within Douglas County, three major surface streams are an intricate part of the South Platte River Basin hydrology: the South Platte River, Cherry Creek and Plum Creek. In comparison to other drainage systems in the Basin, Douglas County enjoys considerably lower surface water amounts than other areas within the Basin. For example, the total annual runoff within Douglas County from Plum Creek, Cherry Creek and the South Platte averages approximately 150,000 acre-feet per year, whereas northern portions of the Basin see approximately 870,00 acre-feet per year.
In other words, any change in place or use will be required to come from an existing water rights rather than a new appropriation.
Given the limited surface waters within the County the system was fully appropriated nearly a century ago, meaning that no new water rights are available for acquisition. In other words, any change in place or use will be required to come from an existing water rights rather than a new appropriation. While some Douglas County water providers have water rights to the South Platte, Cherry and Plum Creeks, their allocations do not provide enough water to satisfy the renewable supplies necessary to fulfill the existing water demands of the County.