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Annual Report For 1969 Attol'ney's Repol't To The Amity Mutual Irrigation Company TO THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE AMITY MUTUAL mRlGATION CO~l PANY: During the past .year of operation your Attorney has handled and passed on various legal matters of a more or less routine nature which arises from time to time from an operation of the type handled by 'your Company. In addition to these matters, however, the Compan,y has been involved in other legal problems of a more seriolls nature which we will TeIX>I''t on brieOy here. The suit in the District Court in and for Bent County, Colorado, wherein Jake O. Bro,vIes, et aI, is suing the Amity for damages which he alleges arose out of the 196i Clood, is still pending and no trial date has yet been set. I cannot anticipate with any degree of accuracy just when this matter will be set down for trial. You will recall, also from pre\'ious reports, the suit filed against the Amity by Carl 1\1. Shinn, In this case, as in the Broyles Case, we have been represented by Pueblo .-\ttorneys, retained by our insurance compan,Y, as well as by your local attorney. The Shinn case has, since the last report, been settled prior to trial upon terms which were mutually agreeable to Shinn and the insurance company. The declaratory judgment suit instituted by the .-\mity in the Prowers County District Court is pending. This suit in effect asks the Court to de- termine if we must legally carr~ I or attempt to carry, all of the waters from the \\"ile,y Drain which flow into us, or whether or not we can legally build works so as to limit the amount we take and in effect throw the excess on lower adjacent lands. This action involved several legal problems which were also common to the Shinn suit, and as a result Shinn filed a :-'lotion to abate (Le, hold up) any action on the declaratorJ' judgment suit lUltil his suit, which was first filed, could be decided. This ~lotion appeared to have sufficient merit and as a result at its filing we have in effect been unable to proceed with the declarator)' suit. However, now that the Shinn suit has been disposed of, we are in a position to proceed and hope to go to trial in the spring or sum- mer. The major water legislation passed during the 1969 session of the State Legislature was embraced in Senate Bill !\o. 81. It now is entitled "Water Right Determination and Administration" and appears at 14B-21-1 et seg. in the Colorado Revised Statutes. Page 6