An augmentation plan is a legal document approved by the local water court in Colorado which determines the impacts of groundwater pumping to a nearby stream or adjacent shallow aquifers – in our case the Rio Grande River and hydraulically-connected groundwater. These groundwater “depletions” from well pumping must be replaced (or augmented) by other sources of senior surface water, reservoir water, return flows (or “accretions”) from recharged water, or by drying up (no longer irrigating) previously irrigated fields. 

Accretions (augmentation water sources) must be replaced to the Rio Grande River to offset specified well pumping depletions. It is an elaborate accounting process which involves extensive legal and engineering analysis, negotiations with objectors in the water court case, and eventual issuance of a “decree” by the water court judge. This court decree must be followed by well owners or they will be forced to cease pumping groundwater.

Often, the result of a water court decree involves the dry up (no more irrigation) of thousands of acres of productive farmland. The economic impacts can be significant due to the loss of crops and reduced land values. On the positive side, requiring groundwater pumpers to become sustainable will prolong the useful life of the aquifer. In addition, within the Rio Grande River Basin, groundwater sustainability will help prevent injury to the downstream states of New Mexico and Texas under the Rio Grande Compact of 1938.