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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The City of Delta has recently applied for and has been
granted a conditional decree for a direct flow diversion of 4.0 c.f.s.
from Oak Creek for year around municipal and domestic purposes. The
decree carries an appropriation date of September 24, 1973, with a
point of diversion located at the intake works of the proposed Oak
Creek Pipeline. This water will in all probability only be available
during the non-irrigation season.

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The Red Rock Ditch has an absolute decree for 0.75 c.f.s.
under Priority No. 47. The first' enlargement of the Red Rock
Ditch also has an absolute right for 0.75 c.f.s. under Priority
No. 49. The character of use under these two priorities was amended in
1951 under Civil Action No. 3724 to include municipal and domestic
purposes and an alternate right for irrigation purposes if the City so
desired. The second enlargement of the Red Rock Ditch has an absolute
right for 1.50 c.f.s. under Priority No. 4-99 for irrigation use only.

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The decrees for the Red Rock Ditch and its first enlargement
were purchased by Delta from William and Stella Burnett in 1911.
After the sale, the City leased some of the excess water that
would not enter the Doughspoon Pipeline back to the Burnetts.
The intention was that the City would use all the water it needed
or could get into its pipeline and the balance of the water
could be used on both the Burnett Ranch and the City's Doughspoon
Ranch in proportion to the number of acres belonging to each. It
is not clear how the City acquired their absolute decree under
the Red Rock Ditch 2nd enlargement. Court records show that the decree
was initially granted to the Burnetts. Recent water department records
show no use under any of the Red Rock decrees. The decrees in the Red
Rock Ditch with Priority Numbers 47 and 49 are municipal use rights
but apparently cannot legally be diverted into the collection system
because of the decreed headgate location.

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The Orchard Mesa Ditch has an absolute water right for 9.328
c.f.s. under Priority No. A-I04 and its first enlargement has an
absolute water right for 1.20 c.f.s. under Priority No. A-106. Both
rights are for irrigation use only. These water rights were purchased
in 1953 from the late Genevieve Hartig, sole surviving member of the
Board of Trustees of the Orchard Mesa Ditch and Reservoir Company
which is now a defunct corporation. The Hoosier Ditch and the Orchard
Mesa Ditch are in direct conflict with each other in their source of
supply. Both ditches claimed water from the natural flows of Dirty
George Creek, Oak Creek and Doughspoon Creek. According to the
original filings, the two ditches essentially paralleled each other
with the Orchard Mesa Ditch upslope from the Hoosier Ditch. The
conflict was settled during the 1914 adjudication when portions of
each ditch company's request were granted with similar Priority
Numbers A-104 and A-I06. The City of Delta now owns both ditches and
diversions under the Orchard Mesa Ditch priorities of A-I04 and A-106
for irrigation use have not been made.

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