Water Committee Agenda and Packet 2011 03 04

Home Browse Search

Statements of Opposition to Water Court Applications February 17, 2011 Page 2 of 4 Colorado law provides for the entry of decrees for "conditional water rights," in which the applicant demonstrates the intent to divert water and apply it to a beneficial use, but without actually demonstrating that water has been diverted and beneficially used. This allows the applicant to have certainty in its seniority of water rights prior to actually constructing the facilities to use the water. Louisville obtained various priorities to utilize water out of Coal Creek to irrigate the golf course, and has continued to develop the system over the past fifteen years. Diligence applications must be filed every six years until the water rights are made absolute. As indicated, a portion of the rights will be made absolute in this proceeding, and the conditional status of other water rights will be continued. Water court applications are published by the water court on a monthly basis, and we review the applications on behalf of the City. We then consult with staff to determine which water court applications should be contested by the City. The City is presently a party in a number of pending water court cases: Case Name Gapter Riparian Homeowners Association Eldorado Artesian Water Denver Water Board City and County of Broomfield Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company City of Lafayette Consolidated Mutual Water Company City of Lafayette City and County of Broomfield Eldora Enterprises Richard and Cynthia Johnson Case Number 02 CW 344 02 CW 292 04 CW 121 04 CW 310 05 CW 238 05 CW 251 05 CW 244 05 CW 330 06 CW 288 07 CW 231 07 CW 232 Note that the City has not filed a statement of opposition in more than three years; this is likely a function of both the economy, and the extent to which the water from the local basins is already developed.