DISTRICT COURT, WATER DIVISION 7, COLORADO
WATER RESUME
(This publication can be viewed in its entirety on the state court website at:
www.courts.state.co.us).
TO: ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN WATER APPLICATIONS IN SAID WATER DIVISION NO. 7
Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are notified that the following is the resume of all water right applications filed in the Office of the Water Clerk during the month of June 2024, for Archuleta County.
2024CW3019 ARCHULETA COUNTY, WATER DISTRICT NO. 78: 1) Applicant: Kaav Panaakay, LLC 2) Attorney: Adam T. Reeves/Lindsey A. Ratcliff, Maynes, Bradford, Shipps & Sheftel, LLP, 835 East 2nd Avenue, Ste. 123, Durango, CO 81301; 3) Application for Conditional Surface, Underground, and Storage Water Rights and Plan for Augmentation; 4) Source for all Four Structures: Rito Blanco River; 5) (a) Structure 1: Applicant requests entry of a decree confirming the following conditional surface water rights: Powderkeg Pump Station: SW 1/4, SE 1/4, Section 17, T35N, R1E, N.M.P.M.; UTM Coordinates; Zone 13N, Easting 334,460.0, Northing 4,125,694.0 (NAD 83); Amount: 0.64 c.f.s., conditional; Uses: Irrigation, incidental wildlife, firefighting, piscatorial, stockwatering, and for storage, fill, refill, and replacement of evaporation in the Powderkeg Fish Pond and the Powderkeg Augmentation Pond (b) Structure 2: Applicant requests entry of a decree confirming the following conditional underground water rights: Powderkeg Wellfield: SE 1/4, SW 1/4, and SW 1/4, SE 1/4, Section 17, T35N, R1E, NMPM; Amount: Rate: 40 gpm.; Volume limit: 3.14 AF per year; Uses: Domestic and lawn and garden irrigation associated with eight lots, and stockwatering; (c) Structure 3: Applicant requests entry of a decree confirming the following conditional storage water rights: Powderkeg Augmentation Pond: SW 1/4, SW 1/4, Section 17, T35N, R1E, NMPM; UTM Zone 13N, Easting 333,807, Northing 4,125,825 (NAD83); Total capacity: 20AF, Active capacity: 18AF, Dam height: 10 feet; Surface area: 3.00 Acres; Uses: Augmentation, firefighting, incidental wildlife, and evaporation; (d) Structure 4: Powderkeg Fish Pond: SE 1/4, SE 1/4, Section 18, T35N, R1E, NMPM; UTM Zone 13N, Easting 333,428, Northing 4,125,949 (NAD 83); Amount: 18 AF dead storage; Dam height: 10 feet; Surface area: 3.0 acres; Uses: Piscatorial, firefighting, incidental wildlife, and evaporation; 5: Applicant requests entry of a decree approving the following Plan for Augmentation: (a) Name of structures to be augmented: Powderkeg Wellfield and Powderkeg Pump Station; (b) Statement of Plan for Augmentation: All out-of-priority depletions from the Powderkeg Wellfield and the Powderkeg Pump Station for their decreed uses will be replaced in time, location, and amount by releases from the Powderkeg Augmentation Pond to the Rito Blanco during periods of valid, senior calls entitled to such water. Accordingly, this Plan for Augmentation will entitle the Applicant to use water from the Powderkeg Wellfield and the Powderkeg Pump Station year-round for their decreed uses, including when a call would otherwise curtail diversions; (c) Augmentation Plan, Hydrologic Analysis, and Assumptions: Out-of-priority depletions and augmentation release requirements are calculated based on conservative calculations of water demands for Applicant’s current and planned future uses, and protective assumptions described as follows: Representative estimates of diversion demands from the Powderkeg Wellfield for domestic use and the Powderkeg Pump Station to replace the Powderkeg Fish Pond evaporations are tabulated by month in Exhibit B. Domestic demands are calculated in Column 1, based on eight tracts with one single family residence per tract, and daily water use assumed to be 350 gallons per day (“gpd”) per tract. In Column 2, the Powderkeg Fish Pond evaporation demands are calculated for months during the irrigation season (March – October) by multiplying the surface water exposed (3.00 acres) by the monthly distribution of net evaporation as estimated by the State Engineer’s monthly distribution guidelines for sites on-channel with elevation above 6,500 feet, and the annual net evaporation values from NOAA’s Technical Report NWS 33 and nearby precipitation stations; The method for calculating the net stream depletion impacts to the Rito Blanco above the Echo Ditch Headgate is shown in Column 4 of Exhibit C1 by subtracting the lagged return flows from the Powderkeg Wellfield and Powderkeg Fish Pond demands (Columns 1 and 2, respectively). It is estimated that no return flows accrue to the Rito Blanco above Echo Ditch (Column 3). Therefore, Applicant will replace the full net stream depletions to the Rito Blanco that would accrue above the Echo Ditch Headgate (Column 6); The method for calculating the net stream depletion impacts to the Rito Blanco below the Echo Ditch Headgate is shown in Column 4 of Exhibit C2 by subtracting the lagged return flows from the Powderkeg Wellfield and Powderkeg Fish Pond demands (Columns 1 and 2, respectively). The lagged return flows are calculated using a Glover analysis (Column 3), and assuming 85% of the in-house uses return to the Rito Blanco below the Echo Ditch Headgate; Actual depletion impacts and augmentation release DATE FILED: June 28, 2024 1:52 PM FILING ID: 46096CB0EF43B CASE NUMBER: 2024CW3019 amounts will be calculated based on actual diversions and uses. The lagged return flows below the Rito Blanco will be confirmed or recalculated after the on-site wastewater systems for the eight lots are constructed. Delayed depletions associated with the Powderkeg Wellfield will be calculated after the wells are constructed; During call periods, the augmentation requirement amount, as calculated in Column 6 on Exhibits C1 and C2 based on the net stream depletions and the number of days each month that a potential call may occur on the Rito Blanco, will be released to the Rito Blanco from the Powderkeg Augmentation Pond through a pipeline to a point at or above the Powderkeg Pump Station. Due to the use of a pipe, the augmentation replacements would not have any associated transit losses. When a valid downstream senior call is not active, augmentation releases from the Powderkeg Augmentation Pond will not be required. 6. Operation of the Plan for Augmentation: A water right call has been placed on Rito Blanco five times since 2000. Applicant proposes this Plan for Augmentation designed to ensure the continuous diversion and use of water from the Powderkeg Wellfield and the Powderkeg Pump Station to the extent that there may be future calls by senior water rights. Applicant will divert from the Powderkeg Pump Station and fill the Powderkeg Augmentation Pond when water is available in priority. During periods of administration on Rito Blanco in response to a valid senior call, the following protocols shall apply: Monthly augmentation releases under this Plan for Augmentation shall be calculated as provided in Exhibits C1 and C2 for the pro rata portion of any month in which a senior call is active based on actual, measured diversions from the Powderkeg Wellfield and evaporation from the Powderkeg Fish Pond; The augmentation release amounts shall be released on a schedule determined by the Division Engineer. 7. Applicant is the owner of the land upon which all structures applied for herein are or will be constructed. (11 pages including exhibits)
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 YOU HAVE until the last day of August 2024, to file with the Water Clerk, 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 also be served upon the applicant or the applicant’s attorney and an affidavit or certificate of such service shall be filed with the Water Clerk, as prescribed by Rule 5, CRCP. (Filing fee: $192.00; Forms are available through the Office of the Water Clerk or on the Judicial web site at
www.courts.state.co.us; Jason Poyer, Water Court Specialist, 1060 E. 2nd Ave., Room 106, Durango, CO 81301; (970-247-2304)
/s/ Jason Poyer
Water Court Specialist
Published: before July 31, 2024
Published July 11, 2024 in The Pagosa Springs SUN. (241001)
