BOARD00223

• Board Meeting Date: 9/13/2004
• Description: ISF Section - Proposed Water Right Donation - Colorado Water Trust, Peabody #1 Ditch and Lund Enlargement, Boulder Creek and Blue River
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Summary Report

Proposed Water Right Acquisition
Boulder Creek and the Blue River
Summit County

Water Riahts to be Acauired:

Peabody #1 Ditch and Lund EnlargemenUExtension
Boulder Creek - Summit County

Case W-1277 Adjud - March 2.1910 Approp May 23,1904 Original 5.0 cfs
Case W-1520 Adjud - July 5,1916 Approp May 15, 1915 Supplemental (Lund) 3.5 cfs

Overview

Irrigation
Irrigation

The Peabody #1 Ditch and Lund Enlargement headgate is located on Boulder Creek, approximately 3
miles upstream from the confluence with the Blue River. Historically. the ditch took water from the north side of
Boulder Creek. traversed the hillside, and siphoned across Harrigan Creek and Lederman Gulch to irrigate
approximately 60 acres of land located on the north side of Lederman Gulch (Appendix 1). A tailwater ditch
intercepted return flows and carried the water north to a point about 14 upstream of the Blue River-Slate Creek
confluence. The return flows accrued to the Blue River approximately 4 miles downstream of the Blue River-
Boulder Creek confluence. The water rights were historically used for irrigation during May - October. Due to the
proximity of the tailwater ditch to the Blue River, return flows most likely accrued to the stream in the month of
diversion. In 1995, an engineering report was prepared by Bishop-Brogden which documented the historic use and
calculated the consumptive use attributable to the rights. In 2000, the owners of the Peabody rights sold their field
to the USFS and the lands were removed from irrigation. The owners retained the water rights, which are now the
subject of this transaction. The Water Trust has provided updated engineering covering the period through 2003.
The revised analysis estimates consumptive use from these rights to be 73 AF/year (Appendix 2).

Scott Hummer, District 36 Water Commissioner, has indicated that this is a long, old ditch with a good
history of use. It is one of 4 active ditches left on Boulder Creek. The other active ditches are decreed for a total of
16.15 cfs from the creek.

Existina Instream Flow Water Riahts (Appendix 3)

The Board currently holds instream flow water rights on Boulder Creek and the Blue River.

Case No. Stream

Segment

Amount (cfs)

5-77W3646 Boulder Creek

headwaters to Blue River

6 (May - Sept)
3 (Oct - April)

78 (March)
90 (April)
125 (May-Aug)
90 (Sept - Oct)
70 (Nov - Feb)

125 (May - Sept)
90 (Oct - Nov)
85 (Dec - Feb)
90 (Mar - April)

5-87CW297 Blue River

Boulder Cr to Slate Cr

5-87CW298 Blue River

Slate Cr to Green Mountain

Approp. Date

1-19-1977

10-2-1987

10-2-1987