Notice - District Court, Water Division No. 2, Colorado
DISTRICT COURT, WATER DIVISION NO. 2, COLORADO
TO: ALL INTERESTED PARTIES
Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are hereby notified that the following case is a portion of the resume of applications and amendments filed and/or ordered published during the month of August, 2020 in Water Division No. 2. The Water Judge ordered this case be published in the Kiowa County Press in Kiowa County, Colorado. This publication can be viewed in its entirety on the state court website at: www.courts.state.co.us.
The name(s) and address(es) of applicant(s), description of water rights or conditional water rights and description of ruling sought as reflected by said application, or amendment, are as follows.
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CASE NO. 2020CW3041; LOWER ARKANSAS WATER MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, c/o Donald Higbee, Manager, 310 South 6th Street, P.O. Box 1161, Lamar, CO, 81052 (Please address all pleadings and inquiries regarding this matter to Applicant’s attorneys: Richard J. Mehren, Jennifer M. DiLalla, John E. Peckler, Moses, Wittemyer, Harrison and Woodruff, P.C., 2595 Canyon Blvd., Suite 300, Boulder, Colorado 80302, (303) 443-8782).
Application for Plan for Augmentation
BENT COUNTY
2. Purpose of application: LAWMA is a non-profit corporation organized for the purpose of, among other things, providing a means for its members to continue to make ground water diversions from wells and other structures with junior priorities and to continue to make surface water diversions from structures with junior priorities in the Arkansas River water rights regime. The purpose of this application is to include a well in LAWMA’s plan for augmentation (“Augmentation Plan”), which was decreed on March 8, 2007 in Case No. 02CW181, Water Division No. 2 (“02CW181 Decree”). Under paragraph 43 of the 02CW181 Decree, LAWMA may add wells to the Augmentation Plan by filing an application with the Water Court. 3. Description of structure to be augmented: The well described in Exhibit A (“Additional LAWMA Structure”) is attached to the application. (All exhibits mentioned herein are incorporated by reference and may be inspected at the office of the clerk of this Court.). A map showing the location of the Additional LAWMA Structure is attached as Exhibit B. The Additional LAWMA Structure is owned by the McClave Water Association and located north of Hasty, Colorado within Bent County. 4. Water rights and other sources of water to be used for augmentation: Those water rights and other sources of water identified in paragraph 40 of the 02CW181 Decree and in the decrees entered in Case Nos. 05CW52, 10CW85, 15CW3067, and 17CW3068 (“Existing Augmentation Supplies”); and those water rights and other sources of water that are added to the Augmentation Plan consistent with paragraph 41 of the 02CW181 Decree. A table identifying the Existing Augmentation Supplies by name, decree(s), location, source, appropriation date, amount, and decreed use(s) is attached as Exhibit C, and maps showing the decreed locations of the Existing Augmentation Supplies are attached as Exhibits D-1 and D-2. 4.1 Use of Fryingpan-Arkansas Project water and return flows as an augmentation source: The Additional LAWMA Structure is located within the boundaries of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, and water pumped from the Additional LAWMA Structure will be used within such boundaries. Thus, LAWMA will use Fryingpan-Arkansas Project water, including return flows, to replace depletions caused by the Additional LAWMA Structure. 5. Statement of plan for augmentation: The amount, timing, and location of depletions from the Additional LAWMA Structure will be determined in accordance with the methodologies approved in the 02CW181 Decree. Under the Augmentation Plan, LAWMA shall account for and fully replace all out-of-priority depletions caused by the Additional LAWMA Structure. LAWMA shall replace such depletions with fully consumable water in accordance with the terms and conditions of the 02CW181 Decree and the decree to be entered in this case, in a manner that protects Colorado senior surface water rights from injury and ensures compliance with the Arkansas River Compact. 5.1 Integration into Case No. 02CW181 accounting and projection: The accounting for operation of the Additional LAWMA Structure will be incorporated into the accounting and projection required by paragraphs 47.E and 47.I of the 02CW181 Decree. Such accounting will include, without limitation, monthly diversions, monthly unlagged depletions, and monthly lagged depletions, if any, for the Additional LAWMA Structure, as well as the fully consumable water sources available for replacement of such depletions. Additionally, in accounting for operation of the Additional LAWMA Structure, LAWMA shall use the integrated accounting forms approved in the decree entered in Case No. 14CW3004 on August 1, 2017. 5.2 No modification of 02CW181 Decree: This Application does not seek to change any provision of the 02CW181 Decree other than the inclusion of the Additional LAWMA Structure. This Application does not seek a change of water right for any of the Existing Augmentation Supplies, nor any change to decreed terms and conditions applicable to augmented structures previously included in the Augmentation Plan. 6. Name and address of owner of land upon which any new diversion or storage structure, or modification to any existing diversion or storage structure, is or will be constructed or upon which water is or will be stored, including any modification to the existing storage pool: Lynden Gill, 34705 County Road 24, McClave, CO 81057. WHEREFORE, LAWMA respectfully requests that this Court enter a decree (i) approving the inclusion of the Additional LAWMA Structure in the Augmentation Plan; and (ii) finding and concluding that LAWMA will fully replace, so as to prevent injury to Colorado senior surface water rights and ensure compliance with the Arkansas River Compact, all out-of-priority depletions caused by the Additional LAWMA Structure under the Augmentation Plan.
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THE WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED BY THE FOREGOING APPLICATION(S) MAY AFFECT IN PRIORITY ANY WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED OR HERETOFORE ADJUDICATED WITHIN THIS DIVISION AND OWNERS OF AFFECTED RIGHTS MUST APPEAR TO OBJECT AND PROTEST WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY STATUTE, OR BE FOREVER BARRED.
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any party who wishes to oppose an application, or application as amended, may file with the Water Clerk a verified statement of opposition setting forth facts as to why the application should not be granted, or why it should be granted only in part or on certain conditions, such statement of opposition must be filed by the last day of October, 2020 (forms available at Clerk’s office or at www.courts.state.co.us, must be served on parties and certificate of service must be completed; filing fee $192.00). The foregoing are resumes and the entire application, amendments, exhibits, maps and any other attachments filed in each case may be examined in the office of the Clerk for Water Division No. 2, at the address shown below.
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Witness my hand and the seal of this Court this 10th day of September, 2020.
/s/ Michele M. Santistevan
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Michele M. Santistevan, Clerk
District Court Water Div. 2
501 N. Elizabeth Street, Suite 116
Pueblo, CO 81003
(719) 404-8832
(Court seal)
Published: September 18, 2020
In the Kiowa County Press
