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00CW281,Div. 5 <br /> Decree <br /> for maintenance. The water used for recreational and piscatorial purposes at the Park is available to meet the <br /> calls from these downstream senior users at all times. <br /> ! Due to the downstream calls,there is little opportunity to develop new appropriations in the upper Blue. <br /> River basin except for those uses that are non-consumptive and for those uses that involve exchanges <br /> between a supply source and an end use. The water rights for the Park are needed to secure a priority against <br /> future exchanges of water through the Park. The water rights will not affect existing decreed exchanges. <br /> The water rights for the Park are junior to all existing decreed water rights in the Blue River basin <br /> upstream from the Park. Therefore,the water rights for the Park will not injure these upstream senior water <br /> rights. <br /> K. Can and Will. The Court finds that the Town of Breckenridge can and will perfect the conditional <br /> portions of the claimed amounts within a reasonable time consistent with C.R.S. §37-92-305(9)(b)(2000)at <br /> flows between 100 and 500 cfs. In this regard,the Park has already been fully constructed,the beneficial use <br /> of the claimed amounts has commenced, and sufficient water is available for appropriation. As part of this <br /> finding, the Court concludes that water is available in sufficient quantities and on sufficiently frequent <br /> occasions to complete the conditional appropriations with diligence within a reasonable time. <br /> L. Colorado's Compact Entitlements. There is no evidence of any intent on the part of the Town of <br /> Breckenridge to export water outside Colorado, and the water rights sought in the application will not have <br /> that effect. The Park is located 8 miles upstream from Dillon Dam, 30 miles upstream of Green Mountain <br /> Dam, 96 miles upstream from the Shoshone Power Plant,and 210 miles upstream of the Colorado-Utah state <br /> line. There are numerous water rights, absolute and conditional,that are decreed for structures between the <br /> Park and the state line. Due to the upstream location, the use of water for recreational purposes at the Park <br /> does not reduce the supply of water available for those existing water rights or future appropriations in any <br /> manner. In fact,the water may continue to be used and reused several times between the Park and the state <br /> line. <br /> Moreover, the Upper Colorado River Compact allocates the amount of entitlement to the Colorado <br /> River flows among the upper basin states based on consumptive use. Since the recreational use of the Blue <br /> River at the Park is non-consumptive, it will not add to Colorado's consumptive use quota. <br /> M. Administration. The water rights for the Park can be administered using the U.S. Geological <br /> Survey's`Blue River at Blue River"and"French Gulch at Breckenridge"gages and the Colorado Division of <br /> Water Resource's`Blue River at Highway 9"gage. By utilizing these gages and accounting for stream flow <br /> gain from intervening drainage areas, the water rights for the Park can be administered in the same way all <br /> other water rights are administered - in priority. Notwithstanding, should the state and division engineer <br /> reasonably require the installation and maintenance of another meter,guage or measuring device to administer <br /> the water rights granted herein, such may be required pursuant to C.R.S. § 37-92-502(5)(a). <br /> fd6970 —7— <br />