DISTRICT COURT, WATER DIVISION NO. 2, COLORADO --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESUME OF CASES FILED AND/OR ORDERED PUBLISHED DURING DECEMBER 2017 AND INVITATION TO JOIN THE STATE ENGINEER’S SUBSTITUTE WATER SUPPLY PLAN NOTIFICATION LIST AND/OR PRODUCED NONTRIBUTARY GROUND WATER NOTIFICATION LIST --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TO: ALL INTERESTED PARTIES Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are hereby notified that the following is a resume of applications and certain amendments filed and/or ordered published during December 2017, in Water Division No. 2. The names and addresses of applicants, description of water rights or conditional water rights involved and description of ruling sought as reflected by said applications, or amendments, are as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONSOLIDATED CASE NOS. 1994CW68, 1994CW69, 1994CW75 - SILVER PONDS PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., 7275 Silver Ponds Heights, Colorado Springs, CO 80908 (Please address all correspondence and inquiries to Applicant’s attorney: Henry D. Worley, Worley Law Firm, LLC, 3209 Springridge Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80906; (719) 634-8330) Application for Change of Water Right IN EL PASO COUNTY 1. Silver Ponds subdivision is located in the N1/2 SW1/4 and the S1/2 NW1/4 of Section 32, T. 12 S., R. 65 W., 6th P.M. The Silver Ponds Property Owners’ Association (“Applicant” or “Silver Ponds”) is comprised of the owners of 23 lots originally intended for residential use and two lots, Lots 1 and 25, intended for commercial use in the Silver Ponds subdivision. As it has turned out, Lot 1 is instead used for a residence. Except for Lot 8, which is vacant, the remaining residential lots are built-out, as is Lot 25, the sole commercial lot. There are two on-channel ponds on Cottonwood Creek within the subdivision. The existing consolidated decrees specify that the net evaporation from the two ponds is 11.5 acre feet annually. 2. The decree in these consolidated cases provides for a 200 year water supply from a total of 4,000 acre feet of not-nontributary “4%” Denver aquifer water for the 23 lots intended for residential use and two lots intended for commercial use. Most of the 2,420 acre feet of nontributary Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer water underlying the property is intended to be used to make up the remaining 100 year supply of water for the subdivision; 300 acre feet from the Laramie- Fox Hills aquifer were to be reserved in case they were required for the replacement of post-pumping depletions caused by pumping the Denver aquifer wells. 3. The decree specifies that during the 200 year period during which the Denver aquifer will be pumped, 0.1 acre foot of depletions caused by pumping must be replaced to Monument Creek or its tributaries annually, and 0.7 acre foot of depletions must be replaced to Sand Creek each year. In addition, two ponds were determined to cause average annual evaporation of 11.5 acre feet, for total average annual depletions of 12.3 acre feet. 4. Historically, Silver Ponds has replaced the depletions with water from three sources: septic system return flows from the dwellings and commercial buildings within 1 the subdivision, with 120 shares of stock in Great Divide Water Company, representing 1.2 acre feet annually, and with fully consumable water it controls pursuant to two contracts with Cherokee Metropolitan District, in the amounts of 1.25 acre feet and 1.0 acre feet. Septic system return flows and the Great Divide water accrue to Monument Creek and its tributaries, particularly Cottonwood Creek. The Cherokee Metropolitan District water accrues to Sand Creek. 5. Septic system return flows have not occurred in the anticipated amounts, for two reasons, both associated with Lots 1 and 25, upon which commercial use was anticipated to occur. First, only Lot 25 is being used for commercial purposes; a residence was constructed on Lot 1. The residence generates far less septic system return flows than was anticipated from commercial development. Second, at the current level of development from the commercial structures on Lot 25, not as much septic system return flows are being generated was anticipated. As a result of this unexpected turn of events, not enough replacement water is being introduced to the Fountain Creek system to replace total annual depletions. 6. David Deidrich, former assistant water commissioner for former Water District 11, estimated that the average net deficit in replacement of depletions is 3.67 acre feet annually. That did not take into account the water available from one of the contracts with the Cherokee Metropolitan District, in the amount of 1.0 acre feet, which would bring the average deficit down to 2.67 acre feet. However, Silver Ponds has concluded that replacing average depletions is probably not adequate to prevent injury, and proposes to revise the plan for augmentation so that the maximum amount of reasonably foreseeable annual depletions, based on past experience, will be replaced. 7. Silver Ponds has determined that the largest deficit in replacements was 4.01 acre feet and occurred in 2016 (which was not included in Mr. Dietrich’s calculations, which occurred before than information was available). Even though pumping that year, 7.0 acre feet, was the lowest amount of pumping during 13 years of records, the Division of Water Resources calculated that septic system return flows that year were only 4.07 acre feet, the lowest amount of the eight years for which septic system return flows were calculated (they were not calculated between 2004 and 2008). AMENDMENTS SOUGHT TO DECREE. 8. Silver Ponds has leased 5.0 acre feet annually of fully consumable water from Donala Water and Sanitation District. Such lease was for a period of one year, commencing on November 1, 2016, and ceasing on October 31, 2017, but was automatically renewed in 2017 and will continue to be so automatically renewed each year unless terminated by Silver Ponds or by Donala Water and Sanitation District. The fully consumable leased water will be introduced into Monument Creek upon the direction of the Water Commissioner, in an amount equal to 5.0 acre feet annually. The location of the discharge is in the SE1/4 of the SE1/4, Section 35, T11S, R67W of the 6th PM; 39.0422 Latitude North, 104.8524 Latitude West. Transit losses will be determined pursuant to the USGS Transit Loss Model for Monument Creek or, if that is not available for one reason or another, the transit losses will be determined by the Division Engineer for Water Division 2. 9. Because Lot 1 is used for a residence, rather than for commercial purposes, Silver Ponds also seeks to re- allocate the 4.13 annual acre feet of Denver aquifer water originally allocated to that lot, to increase allowable annual pumping for each of the 24 residential lots from 0.5 acre foot annually to 0.651 acre foot annually, for those owners of residential lots who choose to re-permit their wells to allow the increased amount of usage. Applicant also 2 seeks to increase the allowable irrigation from 5,000 square feet per lot to 6,000 square feet per lot. No lot owner would be required to obtain a new well permit if they did not want this benefit. 10. Applicant notes that with these amendments, the maximum amount of water which may be annually pumped from the Denver aquifer will remain unchanged at 20 acre feet, and the replacements will continue to be made to the same drainages (Monument Creek and its tributaries and Sand Creek), in the same amounts, and in the same time frame as specified by the original decree. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CASE NO. 2016CW3103 - BOARD OF WATER WORKS OF PUEBLO, COLORADO (“Pueblo Water”), 319 W. 4th St., Pueblo, CO 81003 (Please address all correspondence and inquiries to Applicant’s Attorneys: William A. Hillhouse II, John J. Cyran, John P. Justus, HOSKIN FARINA & KAMPF, Professional Corporation, 200 Grand Avenue, Suite 400, Post Office Box 40, Grand Junction, Colorado 81502-0040; (970) 986-3400) First Amended Application for Approval of Conditional Appropriative Rights of Exchange. PUEBLO, FREMONT, CHAFFEE, LAKE, CROWLEY AND OTERO COUNTIES 2. Description of Application and Exchanges: a. Pueblo Water is an independent governmental entity under the home rule charter of the City of Pueblo, Colorado, which has exclusive control of the management and operation of the water system that supplies its customers. b. Pueblo Water is supplied by a variety of water rights, which divert from the Arkansas River or its tributaries or from streams on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains. Pueblo Water has Eastern Slope raw water storage in Clear Creek, Twin Lakes and Turquoise Reservoirs and in Pueblo Reservoir. Pueblo Water serves treated water to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers in and around the City of Pueblo, including unincorporated Pueblo County, and, from time to time, leases raw water determined to be in excess of its current needs to other water users. Pueblo Water has a need for the appropriative rights of exchange herein requested for the purpose of supplying water to its customers. c. Source of Substitute Supply to be Exchanged: Pueblo Water has purchased 5,540.88 shares of stock in the Bessemer Irrigating Ditch Company, a Colorado mutual ditch company (“BIDC”). Pueblo Water is seeking in Case No. 2017CW3050, Water Division No. 2 (the “Change Case”), to change the point of diversion and the type, manner, season and place of use of the water rights represented by these shares (the “Bessemer Shares”) so as to add municipal and related uses (the “Changed Uses”) by Pueblo Water. d. In this application Pueblo Water seeks a decree awarding it the conditional right to make exchanges of water generated by the Bessemer Shares in conjunction with the Changed Uses by Pueblo Water.