The West Divide Water Conservancy District (WDWCD), a Colorado governmental entity, was organized in 1964 for the purposes of conserving and developing land and water resources within its boundaries. The District includes portions of Garfield, Pitkin and Mesa Counties in Western Colorado.
A primary service of West Divide is to provide water right augmentation supplies within the District’s Service Areas for all beneficial uses, and to promote the health, safety, and welfare of the public while providing such service. West Divide has decreed several regional water right plans for augmentation that provide a legal supply of water to its constituents. This legal water supply allows contractees to continue to use water when they are out-of-priority without being curtailed or having to go through a lengthy water court process to decree their own plan for augmentation. Essentially, water is released from upstream reservoirs (Ruedi, Green Mountain, Wolford Mountain) to replace water to the river that is being used by District contractees who are out-of-priority. The District also delivers physical water supplies to certain geographical areas.
West Divide has approved Service Areas which include the Colorado River and Roaring Fork River corridors, Silt Mesa, Rifle Creek, Elk Creek, Fourmile Creek, and East Divide Creek. The District offers several types of water augmentation services to help residents in the various decreed service areas to obtain a legal water supply. The most commonly augmented uses include:
- Augmentation of individual, subdivision, commercial, and industrial wells
- Augmentation of irrigation use and pond evaporation
- Augmentation of direct hauling and pumping of water from local streams and rivers
- The delivery of irrigation water supplies from Alsbury Reservoir
The West Divide Water Conservancy District is also involved in regional issues that affect its citizens. These issues include water supply planning associated with existing and future water demands within the District, and the monitoring and management of water quality.