Otero County to Assess Value of Major Ditches: Pueblo Chieftain

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Otero County to assess value of major ditches 14 The Pueblo Chieftain Online Select file then print to print this article. Publish Date Sunday September 02, 2001 Otero County to assess value of major ditches By MARY JEAN PORTER The Pueblo Chieftain Otero County isn't resigned to losing all its valuable water. http : //w ww . chieftain. c om/print.php P story--2 Equipped with a $30,000 Great Outdoors Colorado planning grant, the county hired a Denver firm to determine the value of six prominent ditches - Highline, Holbrook, Oxford, Nine Mile, Fort Lyon and Catlin. Otero County also is using the grant money, which was approved in February and matched with $10,000 from the county, to begin developing conservation easements that will protect water rights. The county stands to lose 5,000 acre -feet of water and the agricultural production it supports if the proposed sale of Rocky Ford Ditch water to the city of Aurora is approved by water court. Barry Shioshita, Otero County administrator, said the appraisal of the water's value and the work toward conservation easements and a local land trust are part of a pro- active approach the county and its Water Works committee have taken. "For over a year, we've been looking at alternatives to the sale of water rights," he said. Shioshita said appraisers from the firm of Brown and Caldwell considered comparable water sales, facts and figures from the state engineer's office, consumptive use and cropping patterns in determining the ditches' value. "It's based on the productive value of the land," he said. "We're trying to see what the municipal or development value would be compared to the historic ag value." Shioshita said it's difficult for a county to determine what its water is worth, and that's precisely why Otero County sought the appraisal. Although an appraisal is "a snapshot in time" because it is relative to the current water market, it does establish a baseline, Shioshita said. Preliminary data from the appraisal will be presented Sept. 17 at the next Water Works meeting. John Rose, Water Works coordinator, said the committee grew out of a forum in January 2000 sponsored by the West Otero /Timpas Soil Conservation District, in response to news of the proposed Rocky Ford Ditch sale. Following the forum, the county decided to form the volunteer committee, which consists of city residents and officials, people living in rural areas of the county, irrigation company presidents and others. Rose is paid to coordinate the project, but is not a county employee. 1 of 2 9/4/01 1:17 PM