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<br />Association also has the power to set assessments to be paid by the membership, the power to create a lien <br />if those assessments are not paid,.and the power to foreclose a lien so created. The subdivision <br />encompasses 160 acres, of which 55 acres are irrigated. The subdivision is 93% built out, with houses on <br />50 of the 54 lots. The CRPOA owns the irrigation well, the storage tank, and the deeded right of way for <br />the distribution system. The Association would also own the senior water rights purchased for <br />augmentation of the well. <br /> <br />Proiect Description <br />Five alternatives were analyzed in the feasibility study: <br /> <br />1. The no-action alternative <br />2. Rely on GASP to augment the well <br />3. Purchase senior water rights for augmentation water <br />4. Purchase water from another source for the centralized system <br />5. Pumping of non-tributary wells <br /> <br />While Alternative 3, purchase of senior water rights for augmentation water, has a significantly higher cost <br />than Alternative 2, it is considered to be a far more reliable approach to continued use of the Association's <br />irrigation well. Alternative 4 was ruled out because of its high cost, and Alternative 5 was ruled out <br />because insufficient water could be pumped from the non-tributary aquifers that underlie the subdivision. <br />The no-action alternative was unacceptable since it would result in an order from the State Division of <br />Water Resources that pumping from the well cease. <br /> <br />Selected Alternative 3 involves purchase of senior water rights that would be acceptable to augment the <br />CRPOA irrigation well. The main sources are: the Burlington-Wellington rights, the Brantner Ditch, the <br />Fulton Ditch, and the Lupton Bottom/Lupton Meadows Ditch. The consumptive use for irrigation within <br />the Columbine Ranches Subdivision is 84 acre-feet per year. <br /> <br />The exact rights that the CRPOA will purchase have not been determined, and will depend on availability <br />and purchase price. Regardless of the rights selected, they will need to represent 84 acre-feet of <br />consumptive use per year. As an example, Fulton Ditch shares yield 1.7 acre-feet of consumptive use per <br />share, and the per-share price is approaching $6,000. Approximately 50 Fulton shares would be required, at <br />a total price of$300,000. In contrast, an adequate number of Burlington-Wellington rights would cost <br />approximately $390,000. <br /> <br />Selected Alternative 3 also includes a one-time engineering cost of $7,000 to evaluate the consumptive use <br />of the shares to be purchased, and a one-time costof$IO,OOO to install flow measuring equipment and <br />hydraulic structures to route augmentation water back to the river. <br /> <br />The implementation schedule calls for completion of financing arrangements in 1998/1999, with formal <br />approval and resolution by the Association members in early 1999. (On October 17, 1998 the CRPOA <br />membership voted to proceed with CWCB loan, and authorized the Association board to set assessments.) <br />Closing on the water rights purchase would probably occur after the Construction Fund bill is approved <br />(June of 1999.) However, due to rising prices, the association needs the flexibility to negotiate and <br />purchase water rights in spring 1999, using short term financing. <br /> <br />Financial Analysis <br />The total estimated cost of the project (water rights purchase, engineering, and hydraulic structures) is <br />between $317,000 and $407,000. Staff is requesting that the Board consider a loan for up to 75 percent of <br />the high cost estimate, not to exceed 75 percent of the actual cost. The estimated maximum loan amount is <br />$305,250, and the estimated minimum loan amount is $237,750. The CRPOA will establish a one-time <br />assessment of lot owners to raise the remaining 25 percent of the project cost. That assessment will be <br />between $1,468 and $1,884 per lot. <br /> <br />2 <br />