Mountain Mutual Water Company -- Water Supply and Rights Issues
"[O]wners of [water] rights
must remain vigilant in the protection of their interests." Archuleta
v. Gomez, ___ P.3d ___ (Colorado Supreme Court 2009)
The security and dependability of MMWC's water
supply is a function of the characteristics and sustainable yield of the Gillette Flats
alluvial aquifer, its legal rights to that water (relative to other water right
holders), and existing and proposed uses of the aquifer recharge zone.
Characteristics of the Gillette Flats
alluvial aquifer
MMWC draws its water from the Gillette Flats alluvial aquifer,
a relatively shallow, limited-capacity aquifer. The saturated thickness
varies, but is generally less than 60 feet. The aquifer
is bounded by the
Trachyte Knob to the east, unweathered Pikes Peak granite below, and a
narrow valley constriction to the south, near Altman. The aquifer is
recharged by the West Fork of West Beaver Creek.
MMWC, Cripple Creek, and the City
of Victor (which supplies the CC&V mine) share the limited water resources of
the Gillette Flats alluvial aquifer.
Studies performed by HRS Water
Consultants, Inc., suggest that the Gillette Flats alluvial aquifer -- when it
is receiving no surface flow input during the winter -- generally provides a
steady ground-water outflow of about 2.4 to 2.8 cfs. These studies also
suggest that the aquifer can sustain no more than ~1.5 cfs of pumping, in the
aggregate, from 6 or more well-spaced wells over the northern end of the
aquifer, and no more than ~2 cfs of pumping, in the aggregate, in wells
distributed over the entire aquifer. Also, the studies concluded that
prolonged drought would reduce that yield.
Currently, there are about 2 cfs of
adjudicated rights to this aquifer water -- some of it belonging to MMWC, some
of it belonging to Cripple Creek, and some of it belonging (at least
contractually) to the City of Victor. These adjudicated rights approach
the limits of the aquifer's capacity.
To date, the existing demands on the Gillette
Flats aquifer have not prevented MMWC from serving the needs of its existing
customer base. Moreover, MMWC and Cripple Creek have implemented an
aquifer management plan to monitor and conserve this vital resource.
However, the population dependent on Beaver Creek water is growing.
Given the limited capacity of the Gillette Flats aquifer and the creek that
recharges it and the increasing frequency of drought conditions in Teller
County, MMWC is committed to efforts to cooperate in the use and conservation of
this vital resource.
MMWC's water rights
"The primary value of a water right resides in its priority
relative to other water rights and the right to use the resource, not in the
continuous tangible possession of the resource."
Archuleta v. Gomez, ___ P.3d ___ (Colorado
Supreme Court 2009) (citing Navajo Dev. Co., Inc. v. Sanderson, 655 P.2d 1374, 1377 (Colo. 1982)).
MMWC and many of its downstream
neighbors all have adjudicated rights to Beaver Creek water. Many communities
and businesses -- including the
cities of Colorado Springs, Cripple Creek, Victor, and Penrose, and the CC&V
Cresson mine -- depend on Beaver Creek water. Additional communities
-- including the Deer Mountain Ranch and Lakemoor West subdivisions -- depend on
Beaver Creek water as an augmentation source.
Unfortunately, Beaver Creek
(not to be confused with another Colorado stream, in Eagle County, of the same
name), which draws its water from the southwestern slope of Pikes Peak, is a
relatively small stream. See Map of
Beaver Creek Watershed. Consequently, conflicts
and disputes frequently erupt between the communities that depend on Beaver
Creek water. Indeed, a 1982 dispute over 1.36 cfs of Victor's Priority #2
Beaver Creek water rights reached the Colorado
Supreme Court. The seriousness and frequency of these disputes serve
as fair notice that water cannot be taken for granted.
As a default rule, Colorado's
prior-appropriation ("first in time, first in right") system of water rights
means that senior appropriators downstream of a junior user's point of water
diversion are entitled to appropriate the full amount of their water right
before the junior user can take any water. For an introduction to Colorado's prior-appropriation system of water rights,
please see http://www.waterinfo.org/rights.html.
Fortunately, MMWC has a relatively senior and secure right. Furthermore, MMWC
has a cooperative relationship with the City of Cripple Creek, which owns some
of the most-senior rights to Beaver Creek water.
Interesting Documents and Links
Beaver Creek Data:
Map of
Beaver Creek Watershed
Beaver Creek discharge, cubic feet per second, at
USGS 07099050 site.
Beaver Creek discharge, cubic feet per second, at
USGS 07099060 site.
Published stream flow
data tabulated by the Colorado Division of Water Resources
Stream flow
monitoring site data for Division 2, District 12, maintained by Colorado DWR
Disputes over Beaver Creek water rights:
See
Beaver Park Water, Inc. v. Victor, 649
P.2d 300 (Colo. 1982) (upholding Victor's "Altman" water rights (Beaver
Creek priority #2), holding that predecessors had no intent to abandon the
Altman water rights in 1957-1977 period when it wasn't used, because at the
time, Skaguay Reservoir had plenty of water to supply Victor's needs).
See AngloGold Ashanti "Case
Study" about settlement of Cripple Creek-Victor dispute.
Other:
Guide to Colorado
Well Permits, Water Rights, and Water Administration.
Publications from
the Colorado Division of Water Resources.
2009-03-25 WSJ article:
"Out West,
Catching Raindrops Can Make You An Outlaw"
Arkansas River Drought & Water Supply Assessment Basin Summary.
Tour of the
CSU Water System.
Google Maps of
Barnard Creek
In re Cripple Creek Water Co.,
Public Utilities Reports (1916) at pages 788-817.
1919 Cripple Creek
water consumption report (reporting that Cripple Creek, at the time, consumed 750,000 gallons/day).
Wilderness
Proposal for Beaver Creek Watershed.
|
