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District Court, Water Division 4, Colorado <br />Case No. 02CW38; Application of Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District <br />Closing Brief of the Colorado River Water Conservation District <br />Page 9 of 11 <br />uses of water that benefit the local economy in order to protect an entirely speculative future project <br />against even the smallest degree of impact. Instead, the standard of compact impairment must contain <br />a reasonable degree of materiality and probability. <br />Regardless ofthe applicable standard, the Applicant proved at trial that the claimed RICD will <br />not impair compact development because there is only a very limited potential for the RICD to impact <br />even those speculative future water rights. Furthermore, the evidence established that Colorado <br />water law is sufficiently flexible to allow compact development even when there is a direct and <br />significant impact on juniorwater rights. Finally, the testimony of Mr. Lochhead was that Colorado's <br />compact entitlement is not apportioned to specific river basins and that the remaining compact <br />entitlement could be fully developed without any impact from RICD both downstream of the RICD <br />and/or in river basins other than the Gunnison River. <br />IV. THE RICD WILL PROMOTE MAXIMUM UTILIZATION. <br />The doctrine of maximum utilization is centered on fulluse of Colorado's limited water supply <br />for as many beneficial uses as possible, consistent with the State's compact delivery obligation. <br />Empire Lodge Homeowners'Assoc. v. Moyer, 39 P.3d 1139, 1150 (Colo. 2001). Traditionally, the <br />speculative hoarding of water for the benefit of future unknown projects has been entirely at odds <br />with maximum utilization. Instead, the doctrine favors current beneficial uses of water, particularly <br />those uses that are efficient and do not require the appropriator to command large amounts of <br />available water to satisfy a use that requires less water. Fellhauer v. People, 447 P.2d 986 (Colo. <br />1968). The CWCB's position favoring an unknown speculative project over the Upper Gunnison