PROJC01741 ‎(3)‎

• Contract/PO #: C153768
• Contractor Name: Lower Arkansas Water Management Association
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 67
• County: Bent
• County: Prowers
• Bill Number: SB 96-124
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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HEl. TON It WlWAMSEN, P .C.
CONSULTING ENGINEERS IN WATER RESOURCES
384 INVERNESS DRIVE SOUTH, SUITE 115
ENG~OOD,COUORADO 80112
PHONE I303l 711-2181
FAX [phone]"

March 1 1, 1 997

Mr. William E. Green
Colorado Water Conservation Board
1313 Sherman Street, Suite 721
Denver, Colorado 80203

Subject: LA WMA Loan Request

Dear Mr. Green:

Pursuant to your letter of March 6, I have prepared this communication to transmit
information related to LA WMA' s current loan request. I believe that everything requested in
your letter is covered here except the appraisal of water rights, preliminary results for which
should be available in a day or two.

Water Richts to be Accuired

LA WMA is proposing to acquire interests in two ditches with the funding involved in
this request. The first interest consists of 3,569 shares out of a total outstanding of 3,800
shares in the Highland Irrigation Company. Of this total, 2,702 shares will be purchased in
1997; the remaining 867 shares will be purchased in 1998. The second interest consists of
354 shares in the Fort Bent Ditch Company; these shares will be purchased in 1998.

The Highland Irrigation Company is a mutual ditch company that owns and operates
the Highland Canal. The Highland Canal diverts from the Purgatoire River in sec. 1, T. 25 S.,
R. 53 W., approximately' 17 miles upstream from its mouth. See Plate 1. The Highland
Canal is the lowest ditch diverting from the Purgatoire and is therefore affected by calls only
from Water District 67 when conservation storage in John Martin is deemed empty under the
1980 Operating Plan and Agreement B. The 3,569 Highland shares equate to 93.9 percent
of the total outstanding stock in the company. The Highland Irrigation Company holds three
water rights that are summarized in Table 1. The two early water rights are quite senior and
are not affected by calls from Water District 67.

Table 2 shows the water that was diverted into the Highland Canal during 1950-93
under the 3,569 shares that LAWMA is acquiring. This table was prepared from the records
of the Colorado Division of Water Resources by proportioning for the 0 shares that LA WMA is
acquiring. The table shows that the Highland Canal normally began to divert water in March
and continued diverting water in November, although water was diverted throughout the
winter in some years. The diversions averaged 7,722 acr.e-feet annually during 1950-93 and
ranged from 2,435 acre-feet in 1964 to 14,365 acre-feet in 1983. The Trinidad Project
began operating in 1979 and may have affected the diversions into the Highland after that
time by increasing and stabilizing the amount of water available for diversion.