Water Rights Protection: Statements of Opposition
Rio Blanco County, Colorado
Western Water & Land was retained by local ranchers to provide technical support in two separate water rights cases in which the ranchers had filed Statements of Opposition to water rights applications filed within the Piceance Creek Basin in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. The Piceance Creek Basin is over-appropriated with limited replacement options and competing demands between local irrigators and increasing energy exploration and production pressures. One case involved a single ranch, and the other case involved a group of three ranches. In both cases, Western Water & Land’s role was to identify and help resolve technical concerns with the applications with respect to potential injury to the water rights held by the ranches. Both cases involved the acquisition of new water rights and approval of plans for augmentation based on the dry-up of historically irrigated lands. The concerns identified based on our review of the applications and supporting technical information and analyses were documented in letter reports submitted to the ranchers’ legal counsels. Western Water & Land assisted the legal counsels with preparation of submittals to the opposing counsels and status conferences with the referee. Through legal counsel, Western Water & Land worked directly the applicants’ technical consultants to obtain additional technical information, request additional analysis, and resolve the technical issues. Ultimately, the applicant in one case withdrew its applications; the other case in currently ongoing with only minor issues remaining to be resolved.
Rio Blanco County, Colorado
Western Water & Land was retained by local ranchers to provide technical support in two separate water rights cases in which the ranchers had filed Statements of Opposition to water rights applications filed within the Piceance Creek Basin in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. The Piceance Creek Basin is over-appropriated with limited replacement options and competing demands between local irrigators and increasing energy exploration and production pressures. One case involved a single ranch, and the other case involved a group of three ranches. In both cases, Western Water & Land’s role was to identify and help resolve technical concerns with the applications with respect to potential injury to the water rights held by the ranches. Both cases involved the acquisition of new water rights and approval of plans for augmentation based on the dry-up of historically irrigated lands. The concerns identified based on our review of the applications and supporting technical information and analyses were documented in letter reports submitted to the ranchers’ legal counsels. Western Water & Land assisted the legal counsels with preparation of submittals to the opposing counsels and status conferences with the referee. Through legal counsel, Western Water & Land worked directly the applicants’ technical consultants to obtain additional technical information, request additional analysis, and resolve the technical issues. Ultimately, the applicant in one case withdrew its applications; the other case in currently ongoing with only minor issues remaining to be resolved.