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<br />o <br />--l <br /><:) <br />l".) <br /> <br />Up to this point in the discussion, no recognition has been given to the <br /> <br />fact that pursuant to the water' rights system of each Upper Basin State: <br /> <br />1. Oil shale companies h~ve already appropriated numerous conditional <br /> <br />surface water rights for' future diversion and consumption (and could <br /> <br />appropriate more), the most senior of which rights dates back to 1949 <br /> <br />on the'Co1.orado Main Stem Ri-ver (in Colorado), 1 and <br /> <br />2. The water rights owned by existing irrigated agricultural users (or <br /> <br />any other user for that matter) can be purchased by and transferred to <br /> <br />EET users, although the transfer process can be cumbersome and cost1y.2 <br /> <br />1. The water laws of the Upper Basin states permit one to appropriate a water <br />right, referred to as a conditional decree or permit (depending upon the state), <br />prior to the time that water is actually diverted and put to a consumptive use. <br />In turn, when a conditional right is eventually perfected into a final right, <br />the priority of the right relates not to the date the first diversion is made, <br />but rather back to the date upon which steps were first taken to appropriate <br />water or an application was filed with the state engineer (again, depending upon <br />the state). The date of priority is important because those who were first to <br />appropriate water (i. e., "senior" rights) have the superior claim to it if there <br />is not enough water in a river to satisfy all rights at any given point in time. <br />This system is referred to as the doctrine of prior appropriation. <br /> <br />2. At the present time, oil shale companies in Colorado do own some irrigation <br />rights, although the water involved is still being used for agricultural purposes. <br />No effort has been made in this assessment to evaluate the yield from these rights <br />which, with one exception, are found on Roan and Parachute Creeks, tributaries to <br />the Colorado Main Stem River, and Piceance Creek, a tributary to the White River. <br />However, even if one assumes that every irrigation right on these three creeks <br />were owned by oil shale companies, it is estimated that this would not amount to <br />more than about 10,000 to 20,000 acre-feet per year of historic consumption. By <br />way of comparison, this is about one percent of the water presently consumed by <br />irrigated agriculture on an average annual basis on Colorado's western slope. <br /> <br />cvii <br />