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00CW259,Div. 5 <br /> Decree <br /> I. Name and Address of Owner of Land on Which Structures Are Located: The <br /> structures that constitute the Park are located on land owned by the Town of Vail. <br /> J. Reasonableness. The Court concludes that the amount of water claimed is <br /> reasonable to serve the intended purposes in making the appropriation. "Beneficial use" is the <br /> "use of that amount of water that is reasonable and appropriate under reasonably efficient <br /> practices to accomplish without waste the purpose for which the appropriation is lawfully made." <br /> C.R.S. § 37-92-103(4)(2000). The question, therefore, is not whether the amount of water <br /> claimed is "reasonable" in the abstract, or as compared to other potential future uses of the water, <br /> but whether the amount claimed is reasonable for the purposes for which the appropriation was <br /> made. When tested against the intended purposes and the downstream reuses of this non- <br /> consumptive water right as explained in paragraph 4H above, as well as the efficiency of the <br /> diversion detailed in paragraph 4G above, the Court concludes that the 400 c.f.s. claimed in May, <br /> June, and July and the lesser amounts claimed in the other months as set forth in paragraph 4F, <br /> are reasonable and there is no waste. At flows of less than 30 c.f.s. the use of water is not <br /> reasonable as the testimony at trial established that whitewater features do not appear until the <br /> flow exceeds 30 c.fs. <br /> Although not required to consider other potential uses of water in quantifying a water <br /> right under the beneficial use statute, the Court notes that the rights at issue are non-consumptive, <br /> and the water claimed is always available for all downstream uses. The water rights for the Park <br /> are junior to all existing adjudicated water rights, absolute or conditional, in the Gore Creek basin. <br /> Moreover, the CWCB's instream flow appropriations on Gore Creek will not be impacted <br /> because the Park does not remove water from the stream. None of the other objectors have any <br /> water rights in the Gore Creek basin, and as the Park's use of water is non-consumptive, the Park <br /> does not injure diversion of water from other tributaries of the Colorado River. Thus, the Court <br /> finds that the claimed water rights do not injure any vested water rights or decreed conditional <br /> rights. Furthermore, the Court finds that the water rights for the Park are needed to secure a <br /> priority against future exchanges of water through the Park, but the water rights for the Park will <br /> not affect existing decreed exchanges. <br /> K. Can and Will. The Court finds that the District can and will perfect the conditional <br /> portions of the claimed amounts within a reasonable time consistent with C.R.S. § 37-92- <br /> 305(9)(b)(2000) at flows between 30 and 400 cfs. In this regard, the Park has already been fully <br /> constructed, the beneficial use of the claimed amounts has commenced, and sufficient water is <br /> available for appropriation. <br /> L. Colorado's Compact Entitlements. There is no evidence of any intent on the part <br /> of the District to export water outside Colorado, and the water rights sought in the application <br /> will not have that effect. The Park is located 44 miles upstream from the Shoshone Powerplant, <br /> and 165 miles upstream of the Colorado-Utah state line. There are numerous water rights, <br /> khml000 —6-- <br />