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Supreme Court issues ruling on Jones Ditch case |
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Monday, 06 November 2006 |
 The Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling today in an appeal of a Division 1 Water Court case. The applicant, Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, was seeking to change the use of its ownership in the Jones Ditch.
Objectors to the water court application located a transcript of some testimony given in 1879 showing that the original water right claimant irrigated approximately 300 acres of land with the water right. The water right decree does not specify an acreage. The water right has been used to irrigate between 700 and 900 acres since at least 1920. Central's case was based on the higher acreage. But the Supreme Court ruled that the 300 acres identified in the testimony transcript was the limit on irrigated acreage and that Central's claim should be reduced accordingly.
This might be a significant ruling to DARCA members. If your water rights decrees are silent on an important point, such as acreage, water court objectors can be expected to seek out other sources of evidence that might be out there. Who knows what kind of documents about your water rights are hidden in courthouses or archives?
Make a point to discuss this with your attorney sometime.
DARCA members, go to our Discussion Forum to download a copy of the ruling and an analysis written about the case previously
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