PROJ00001

• Contract/PO #: C153168
• Contractor Name: Delta, City of
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 40
• County: Delta
• Bill Number: SB 77-35
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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tributary to the Gunnison River. These are Doughspoon Creek, Oak
Creek, and Dirty George Creek. Many of the decrees allow for
alternate points of diversion depending on the intended use of the
water. The extent of the City's holdings in these tributaries
represents a considerable investment and allows for considerable
control of the water which is stored or flow therein.

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These water rights are administered through former Water
District 40 of Irrigation Division 4 of the State of Colorado.
Records are kept at the district field offices located in Cedaredge,
Colorado, at the division offices located in Montrose, Colorado,
and at the State Engineer's office located in Denver, Colorado.
Records of the original district court decisions for decrees in Delta
County are maintained in the Delta County Court House in Delta,
Colorado. In addition, the City of Delta maintains its own set of
records.

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In an effort to assemble a complete list of all of the
water rights on Grand Mesa owned by the City of Delta, we have
attempted to compile information from records of the division
office, district office, Delta County Court, and City of Delta.
In so doing, we have discovered several minor discrepancies or
inconsistencies that exist even between the division and district
offices of the State Engineer. All such discrepancies have been
indicated so that corrective measures can be taken.

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Flow Water Rights

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The City of Delta owns numerous surface flow water decrees
on Doughspoon Creek, Oak Creek, and Dirty George Creek in the Tongue
Creek drainage area. Most of these water rights are former irrigation
decrees purchased directly or acquired through the purchase of land
irrigated under the ditches.

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The flow water rights which have been the legal basis for
diversions of water into the City's transmission pipelines prior to
1975 include decrees at the head of the Delta Pipeline transferred
from the Maud S. Ditch, at the alternate point of diversion of the
Doughspoon Ditch, at the Kelly Creek extension, at the alternate
point of diversion of a transfer of the first enlargement of the
Orchard Mesa Ditch, and 40 statutory inches (1.04 c.f.s.) on Dirty
George Creek. The combined decreed rate of flow which the City could
legally divert into its pipelines prior to 1975 was 8.415 c.f.s., if
the water was available.

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