Rebuttal Report for City of Durango, Case No. 2006CW9

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Y SAN JUAN COUNTY Table D of the Harris report includes 3800 acre feet in the carve -out based on future residential pond, garden, and non - residential land uses within San Juan County for which San Juan County already has a pending water rights application. Based on the report for City of Durango in September 2006 entitled Animas River Basin Future Residential Development and Water Demand Study, 3800 acre feet is more than is necessary to accommodate future land uses in unincorporated San Juan County. In Animas River Basin Future Residential Development and Water Demand Study, RPI Consulting summarizes a thorough future residential water demand study that inventories all the patented mining claims that are eligible for development as well as allowing for more intensive development in the County's planned growth areas. The mining claim development potential is tempered by evaluating steepness of terrain and accessibility. RPI concluded in that report that unincorporated San Juan County could have 1850 residential units for a total water demand of 722 AF. As described in Ponds, Lawn, and Garden section above, in western La Plata County where empirical pond data is available, only about 1 in 10 residential lots greater than 5 acres has a pond. Unincorporated San Juan County is much more rugged with limited opportunities for building sites of any type, and according to the San Juan County planner, it is difficult to find reliable water sources on alpine mining claims. Therefore the pond rate is likely even less than in La Plata County. If, like the Harris report, we generously assume that all future residential units have a 1/2 acre lawn or garden (unlikely in a County that is mostly above 9000 feet) and that 11% of all lots have a pond (La Plata County pond rate), and account for the 722 AF of future potential residential use, there is still enough water left (1051 AF) to accommodate 68,491 additional commercial employees in the Unincorporated San Juan County (see Table 10). Even with deliberately inflated pond and Iawn /garden usage, the leftover water to serve non - residential uses is far more than is needed to accommodate likely non- residential development in unincorporated San Juan County. Table 10 - San Juan County Water Diversion Scenario Source ected 1850 Residential Units acre ponds on 11% of all Lots (as measured in La Plata County) acre of Lawn or Garden on each Lot le D San Juan County Diversion over for Non - Residential Development in Unincorporated County Summary: Regardless of whether San Juan County's water right applications are ultimately approved, the 3800 AF diversion included in the suggested carve -out is not reasonable for future development potential. As a high elevation, geographically remote county with less than 1000 residents and 83% public lands, San Juan County is unlikely to experience commercial development employing 68,49I people in the unincorporated areas. Furthermore, the pond, lawn and garden development that is implied by 3800 acre feet is also unlikely to occur in a County that is mostly over 9,000 feet in elevation. 10 Animas River Basin Future Residential Development 722 and Water Demand Study, RPI Consulting 2006 177 See Ponds and Lawn /Garden section (above) 1,850 Harris report, Harris, 2007 3,800 Harris report, Harris, 2007 1,051 = 3800 -1850- 177 -722 Unincorporated County Employees Summary: Regardless of whether San Juan County's water right applications are ultimately approved, the 3800 AF diversion included in the suggested carve -out is not reasonable for future development potential. As a high elevation, geographically remote county with less than 1000 residents and 83% public lands, San Juan County is unlikely to experience commercial development employing 68,49I people in the unincorporated areas. Furthermore, the pond, lawn and garden development that is implied by 3800 acre feet is also unlikely to occur in a County that is mostly over 9,000 feet in elevation. 10