Future Water Use Assessment: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Gerber G. 2017. Future Water Use Assessment: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NRSS/WRD/NRR—2017/1412. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
Staff from the National Park Service (NPS) Water Resources Division - Water Rights Branch (WRD-WRB) traveled to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (GRSA) in May of 2016 to assess the probable future consumptive use of groundwater, which is the source of potable water to visitors and staff at the Park. The park is located within the Rio Grande River basin in south central Colorado and is visited annually by over 250,000 people (on average). Established as a National Monument in 1932, the park was expanded to create a National Park and Preserve in 2000. This future use assessment uses historical consumptive water use and visitation data to project future water use through the year 2065, a 50-year period. The estimate of future use will be used by NPS in in evaluating it’s responsibilities under the State of Colorado’s “Rules Governing the Withdrawal of Groundwater in Water Division No. 3” (Rules) . Three active groundwater wells supply water to GRSA for domestic, administrative, and operational needs via two separate water supply systems. An average of 10.5 afy of water was used during the 16-year POR. During this period, annual visitation averaged 270,000 and increased at an average of 0.60% per year. Future water use was projected to range between 7 and 20 afy in 50 years.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Gerber, Gwen
- Date of Issue
- 2017-03
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GRSA , NRSS , WRD
- Keywords
- Gerber, Great Sand Dunes, GRSA, NPS, Water Rights, Water Rights Branch, Water Supply, WRB, WRD