DISTRICT COURT, WATER DIVISION 6, COLORADO
TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN WATER APPLICATIONS
IN WATER DIVISION 6
Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are hereby notified that the following pages comprise
a resume of Applications and Amended Applications filed in the office of Water Division
6, during the month of AUGUST, 2012.
12CW55, ROUTT COUNTY, Application for Absolute Water Rights (Surface)
Applicant: Bobby George & Rita Nelson, PO Box 212, Yampa, CO 80483; 970-6384429; 970-846-7954; Structure: G Five Pipeline; UTM Coordinates: Northing 4444637,
Easting 339197; SE4, SE4, Sec 14, T2N, R85W, 6PM, 494 ft from S, 797 ft from E,
Source of PLSS Information: Division of Water Engineers; Source: Phillips Creek,
Tributary to the Yampa River; Date of Appropriation, July 24, 12; How appropriated:
Plans for 10 Years; Date Water Applied to Use:---; Amount Claimed: 4 cfs; Proposed
Use: Irrigate 143 acres (+/-); parts of sec 24, T2N R85W and a porti9on of S13, T2N
R85W Landowner: Larry & Wendy Brooks, Yampa, CO; Remarks: There has always
been lots of extra water in Phillips Creek. I think I can make some more productive
ground. And 100% will return right back to Phillips Creek.
12CW57, MOFFAT COUNTY, Application for Absolute Water Rights (Surface)
Applicant: Jim F Kowach, PO Box 327, Craig, CO 81626, 970-824-6275 Structure:
Kowach #1, spring; UTM Coordinates: Northing 4484262, Easting 292614, Zone 13;
NW4, NW4, Sec 13, T6N, R90W, 6PM, 378 ft from N, 461 ft from W, Source of PLSS
Information: Topo GPS data format UTM NAD83; Source: Tributary to Basin Gulch,
Tributary to the Yampa River; Date of Appropriation, 1922; How appropriated: dug;
Date Water Applied to Use: 1922; Amount Claimed: 10 GPM; Proposed Use: Livestock
water Structure: Kowach #2, spring; UTM Coordinates: Northing 4484301,6415, Easting
292601, Zone 13; NW4, NW4, Sec 13, T6N, R90W, 6PM, 251 ft from N, 424 ft from W,
Source of PLSS Information: Topo GPS data format UTM NAD83; Source: Tributary to
Basin Gulch, Tributary to the Yampa River; Date of Appropriation, 1922; Date Water
Applied to Use: 1922; Amount Claimed: 10 GPM; Proposed Use: Livestock water.
Kowach #3, spring; UTM Coordinates: Northing 4484398, Easting 292651, Zone 13;
SW4, SW4, Sec 12, T6N, R90W, 6PM, 74 ft from S, 594 ft from W, Source of PLSS
Information: Topo GPS data format UTM NAD83; Source: Tributary to Basin Gulch,
Tributary to the Yampa River; Date of Appropriation, 1922; How appropriation was
initiated: Dug. Date Water Applied to Use: 1922; Amount Claimed: 10 GPM; Proposed
Use: Livestock water. Kowach #4, spring; UTM Coordinates: Northing 4484436,
Easting 293179, Zone 13; SE4, SW4, Sec 12, T6N, R90W, 6PM, 276 ft from S, 2312 ft
from W, Source of PLSS Information: Topo GPS data format UTM NAD83; Source:
Tributary to Basin Gulch, Tributary to the Yampa River; Date of Appropriation, 1922;
How appropriation was initiated: Dug. Date Water Applied to Use: 1922; Amount
Claimed: 10 GPM; Proposed Use: Livestock water. Kowach #5, spring; UTM
Coordinates: Northing 4484554, Easting 292947, Zone 13; SW4, SW4, Sec 12, T6N,
R90W, 6PM, 629 ft from S, 1522 ft from W, Source of PLSS Information: Topo GPS
data format UTM NAD83; Source: Tributary to Basin Gulch, Tributary to the Yampa
River; Date of Appropriation, 1922; How appropriation was initiated: Dug. Date Water
Applied to Use: 1922; Amount Claimed: 10 GPM; Proposed Use: Livestock water.
Kowach #6, spring; UTM Coordinates: Northing 4485029, Easting 293242 Zone 13;
NE4, SW4, Sec 12, T6N, R90W, 6PM, 2230 ft from S, 2367 ft from W, Source of PLSS
Information: Topo GPS data format UTM NAD83; Source: Tributary to Basin Gulch,
Tributary to the Yampa River; Date of Appropriation, 1925; How appropriation was
initiated: Dug. Date Water Applied to Use: 1925; Amount Claimed: 10 GPM; Proposed
Use: Livestock water. Kowach #7, spring; UTM Coordinates: Northing 4485946,
Easting 293283 Zone 13; NE4, NW4, Sec 12, T6N, R90W, 6PM, 139 ft from N, 2266 ft
from W, Source of PLSS Information: Topo GPS data format UTM NAD83; Source:
Tributary to Basin Gulch, Tributary to the Yampa River; Date of Appropriation, 1915;
How appropriation was initiated: Dug. Date Water Applied to Use: 1915; Amount
Claimed: 20 GPM; Proposed Use: Livestock water. Landowner: applicant; Remarks:
Grandfather homesteaded part of this land in 1915 and 1922, the rest was bought in 1925.
It has been in the family every since.
12CW59, ROUTT COUNTY, Elk River, tributary to Yampa River. APPLICATION
FOR FINDING OF REASONABLE DILIGENCE. Name, mailing address, email
address, telephone number of applicant: Rancho Dos Rios, LLC [hereinafter “RDR”],
One Union Sq., Ste. 500, Chattanooga, Texas 37402, Brett@eldassociates.com,
423.456.5213. Direct all pleadings and court-related documents to Claire E. Sollars,
Esq., P.O. Box 881302, Steamboat Springs, CO 80488-1302, Claire.Sollars@hughes.net,
970.757.2713. Name of Structure: First Enlargement to Thompson Seepage and Waste
Water Ditch [hereinafter “Enlargement Ditch”]. Description of conditional water right:
Original Decree: The Enlargement Ditch was originally decreed on April 23, 1992, in
Case No. 90CW162, in the Routt County Combined Courts, Water Division No. VI.
Subsequent Diligence Decrees: January 12, 2000, Case No. 98CW13, Routt County
Combined Courts, Water Division No. VI; August 21, 2006, Case No. 06CW02, Routt
County Combined Courts, Water Division No. VI. Legal Description: The Enlargement
Ditch commences at a point from which the SE corner of Section 12, T6N, R86W of the
6th P.M., Routt County, Colorado, bears south 44 degrees 20 minutes 50 seconds west
1150.26 feet, said point being also the headgate of the Thompson Seepage and Waste
Water Ditch decreed in Case No. W-751-74, Water Division 6. The Enlargement Ditch
runs thence generally southerly to the northerly right-of-way and barrow ditch of U.S.
Highway 40, and thence southwesterly along such barrow ditch on the northerly right-ofway of U.S. Highway 40 to a point approximately 175 feet south and 60 feet west of said
SE corner of said Section 12, whence such Enlargement Ditch proceeds generally
southerly under U.S. Highway 40 and thence along and adjacent to the East section line
of Section 13, T6N, R86W of the 6th P.M. to a point approximately 1000 feet south of
said SE corner of said Section 12, whence the Enlargement Ditch proceeds easterly 300
feet, more or less, via a constructed lateral, to the inlet into Kenyon Fish Pond. As
further described in the Division of Water Resources data base of Water District 58, the
UTM coordinates of the Enlargement Ditch headgate on the Yampa River are 4483791.0
Northing and 33005.0 Easting. Source of Water: The Elk River and irrigation return
flows from the Elk River and the West Fork of the Elk River as a result of irrigation of
lands in the E2 SE4 of Section 12 and the NE4 of Section 13 north of the Yampa River
and east of the West Fork of the Elk River, in T6N, R86W of the 6th P.M., and in the W2
SW4 of Section 7, T6N, R85W of the 6th P.M., lying west of the Elk River.
Appropriation Date and Amount: July 1, 1990; 4.0 cfs. Uses: Irrigation. Depth (if
well): N/A. Detailed Outline of what has been done toward completion or for
completion of the appropriation and application of water to a beneficial use as
conditionally decreed, including expenditures: From September 2006 through and
including August 2012, RDR spent approximately $200,000.00 in fees, materials and
expenses for the design, construction and implementation of an irrigation system to
utilize the Enlargement Ditch water rights. These costs include labor and material for
ditch construction, irrigation pipe installation, pumps, and backflow valves, as well as
fees, materials and expenses resulting from changes to the original design. The total also
includes fees and costs for a wetlands delineation report. Additionally, RDR incurred
approximately $5,250 for legal fees and costs for the preparation and filing of this
Application for Finding of Reasonable Diligence and as a result of RDR defending its
water rights. If claim to make absolute in whole or in part: N/A. Name(s) and
address(es) of owner(s) or reputed owners of the 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: RDR owns the land upon which the conditional water right will be
used and stored. Remarks: RDR respectfully requests the Water Court find that RDR
has exercised reasonable diligence toward completion of the Enlargement Ditch
conditional water right as described in this application and enter a decree to continue said
conditional water right in full force and effect.
12CW60 MOFFAT COUNTY. Williams Fork River, Tributary to the Yampa River.
Application for Surface Water Right. Applicant: Hamill Family Limited Partnership,
LLLP, c/o Scott Grosscup, Balcomb & Green, P.C., P.O. Drawer 790, Glenwood Springs,
CO 81602; 970-945-6546. Structure: Hamill Diversion. Legal Description: A surface
water diversion located in the SE1/4, SE1/4, Sec. 19, T. 5 N., R. 90 W., 6th P.M., at a pt.
located 154 ft. from the East line and 1,128 ft. from the S. line of said Sec. 19, which pt.
may also be described using UTM Coordinates Zone 13, NAD 84 projection E. 285279,
N. 4471540. The general location of the pt. of div. is shown in Exhibit A to app. Date of
Initiation of Approp.: 6/29/2012. Approp. was initiated by entering into an agreement for
the delivery of water for ind. uses in the Williams Fork basin and its trib. and by filing
this Application with the water court. Date water applied to beneficial use: N/A, cond.
water right. Amt.: 1 cfs, cond. Proposed Use: Ind. use in the development of oil and gas
resources in the Williams Fork river basin and its tributaries. Applicant is the owner of
land upon which diversion structure is to be located. 4 pgs.
You are hereby notified that you will have until the last day of OCTOBER, 2012 to file
with the Water Court a Verified Statement of Opposition, setting forth facts as to why a
certain Application should not be granted or why it should be granted only in part or on
certain conditions. A copy of such Statement of Opposition must be served on the
Applicant or the Applicant’s Attorney, with an affidavit or certificate of such service
being filed with the Water Court, as prescribed by Rule 5, C.R.C.P. The filing fee for the
Statement of Opposition is $158.00, and should be sent to the Clerk of the Water Court,
Division 6, P.O. Box 773117, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477.
THE FOLLOWING PAGES comprise a resume of Protests to the Abandonment List. It
is hereby ordered that all persons affected by an individual protest to the Abandonment
List shall enter their appearance in such protest no later than August 31, 2012.
12CW58 RIO BLANCO COUNTY 1. Name, mailing address, and phone number of
Protestants/Owners: Elk Creek Development, Inc. (“Elk Creek”) attn: Bill Wheeler, P.O.
Box 773930, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477, (970) 879-2464. Direct all pleadings to:
Glenn E. Porzak, Karen L. Henderson, Porzak Browning & Bushong LLP, 929 Pearl
Street, Suite 300 Boulder, CO 80302 Tel: 303-443-6800 Email: gporzak@pbblaw.com;
khenderson@pbblaw.com 2. Elk Creek protests the inclusion of the Goosman Reservoir
on the Revised Abandonment List. The Goosman Reservoir is in Water District 43,
Division No. 6 and is listed on page 3 of the Revised Abandonment List in the amount of
5.6 acre-feet. 3. Description of Water Right: The Goosman Reservoir was decreed by the
District Court in and for Rio Blanco County in Civil Action No. 1269 on November 21,
1966, for piscatorial, recreational, and domestic purposes in the amount of 5.6 acre-feet,
absolute, with an appropriation date of November 25, 1954. The reservoir is located
within the SE ¼ of the SE ¼ of Section 22, Township 1 South, Range 92 West of the 6th
P.M., and the initial point of survey of the high water line of said reservoir is located at a
point whence the Southeast corner of Section 22, Township 1 South, Range 92 West of
the 6th P.M. bears South 6° 44’ East 648.99 feet. The source of supply for the reservoir is
the North Elk Creek, a tributary of the White River. 4. Legal Basis for Protest A.
Abandonment requires the concurrence of two elements: “a sustained period of non-use
and an intent to abandon.” East Twin Lakes Ditches & Water Works Inc. v. Bd. of
County Comm’r of Lake County, 76 P.3d 918, 921 (Colo. 2003). “Intent is the critical
element in determining abandonment.” City & County of Denver v. Snake River Water
Dist., 788 P.2d 772, 776 (Colo. 1990); See also C.R.S. § 37-92-103(2) (2010)
(“’Abandonment of a water right’ means the termination of a water right in whole or in
part as a result of the intent of the owner” to permanently discontinue use). B. For
purposes of the Division Engineer listing, a “failure for a period of ten years or more to
apply to a beneficial use the water available under a water right when needed by the
person entitled to use same” may create a rebuttable presumption of abandonment. C.R.S.
§ 37-92-402(11). This requires 10 years of nonuse when water is available under a water
right when needed. C. Even if such a presumption of abandonment is satisfied, it is
rebutted when the owner “establish[es] some fact or condition that excuses the nonuse or
shows the owner’s intent not to abandon the water right.” Haystack Ranch, LLC v.
Fazzio, 997 P.2d 548, 552 (Colo. 2000); see also People ex rel. Danielson v. City of
Thornton, 775 P.2d 11, 18 (Colo. 1989) (“In order to rebut a presumption of
abandonment it is necessary to adduce evidence that the water right owner did not intend
to abandon the water right notwithstanding the long period of nonuse that gave rise to the
presumption”). D. In determining whether an owner intended to abandon his water right,
Colorado Courts have looked to factors such as: (1) repair and maintenance of structures;
(2) attempts to put the water to beneficial use; (3) active diversions and prior nonappearance of the water right on abandonment list; (4) efforts to sell the water right or a
sale of the water right; (5) filing documents to protect, change, or preserve the right; and
(6) leasing the water right; and (7) economic or legal obstacles to exercising the water
right. E. Twin Lake, 76 P.3d at 922 (Colo. 2003). “[I]f these factors are insufficient or
nonexistent, only then is the failure to put the water to a beneficial use enough by itself to
sustain a finding of abandonment. Id. 5. Factual Basis for Protest The Goosman Reservoir
was an existing structure and was used continuously to its full decreed capacity and for
its decreed uses until 2006. Attached as Exhibit A is an aerial photo of the property
showing the reservoir full of water on October 22, 2005. As such, there has not been ten
years on nonuse. The property and associated Goosman Reservoir water right
experienced several changes of ownership prior to and after 2006. These changes in
ownership started with the death of one of the principal owners of the property and water
right in May of 2004. However, the Goosman Reservoir water right was expressly
referenced in the 2006, 2007, and 2008 deeds transferring the property. See Exhibit B.
Therefore, even after the reservoir fell into disrepair and was later filled in, the continued
inclusion of Goosman Reservoir in these conveyances evidences an intent to not abandon
the Goosman Reservoir water right. Elk Creek purchased the property located at 198
County Road 54, Meeker, CO and its associated water rights, including the Goosman
Reservoir, on July 15, 2011 from Cay Stone, Inc. This deed is recorded in the records of
Rio Blanco County at Reception No. 301658. See Exhibit C. Elk Creek purchased the
property with the intent to re-establish the pond that had been on the property until 2006.
In short, there has not been ten years of nonuse of the Goosman Reservoir and Elk Creek
has no intent to abandon this water right because it plans to re-establish the pond and put
the Goosman Reservoir water right to beneficial use. Accordingly, the Goosman
Reservoir should be removed from the Division No. 6 Revised Abandonment List.
WHEREFORE, Elk Creek requests that the Court remove the Goosman Reservoir from
the Division No. 6 Revised Abandonment List.
ROUTT COUNTY COMBINED COURT
WATER DIVISION 6
By: /s/ Sharon Martin
Court Judicial Assistant