Colorado Water
How is Lake Powell doing? Here's a photo from the Cortez Journal.
The Denver Post editorial staff speaks out on the recent ruling by Water Judge, Denise Maes [July 10, 2004, "Water ruling right on target"]. From the editorial, "A ruling by Pueblo District Judge Dennis Maes in a closely watched water-rights case strikes us as falling properly within the state's "first in use, first in right" doctrine. But unlike some observers, we don't think it will stop the sale of agricultural water rights to municipal and industrial users. Maes ruled against plans by High Plains A&M, a company that owns water rights in the Fort Lyon Canal that are designated for agricultural use. The company wanted to sell those rights to as-yet-unspecified municipal buyers, but the judge said no...Water rights are property rights, and they can be sold to other buyers, who would acquire the same senior date - 1881 in our example - that the original user enjoyed. But the new buyer must meet the test for beneficial use. A speculator acquiring water rights in the hope of reselling them obviously has a hard time meeting that test. But a city negotiating directly with a farmer to buy water for municipal use would be OK. And even third parties are not barred from buying agricultural water rights under Maes' ruling. Such speculators simply can't seek to reclassify those agricultural rights to municipal use until they have a contract with the ultimate user."
10:26:00 AM 
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