WSP07855

• File Number: 8200.765
• Description: Little Snake River General
• State: CO
• Basin: Yampa/White
• Water Division: 6
• Date: 8/23/1990
• Author: Western Water Consul
• Title: Draft Appraisal of P and M Conditional Water Rights for Three Forks Reservoir Project - Little Snake River Basin
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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WATER RIGHTS EVALUATIONS

The values placed upon water rights vary with 1) the location of the current owner

or the right in relation to the location of its potential use; 2) the priority of the water right

and its yield which will be affected by the extent of other development on the same source

of supply junior to that date; 3) the legal and physical ease of transfer to a new use; and

4) the availability of alternative supplies for the new use. In arriving at a value of the

consolidated Three Forks Project water rights, an additional factor must be considered, i.e.

the water rights are conditional and do not represent a developed source.

There is little unsatisfied demand for water in the Little Snake River valley or in

the larger Yampa River valley of which the Little Snake River is tributary. As evidence

for this, the Wyoming Water Development Commission has not yet obtained firm

commitments for 20,000 acre-feet of water which would be available for industrial purposes

from its proposed Sandstone Reservoir. However, there are possibilities for future

demand and with an assured water supply, a demand will most likely develop..' The
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location of the Three Forks Project is such that the place of use of water from the

reservoir is limited to the local area without considerable expense in addition to the cost

of dam construction. The major demand centers at the present time are on the east slope

of the Continental Divide. Water from Three Forks can be pumped across the divide, but

at significant expense. Most of the purchases of water rights, which will be discussed later,

are on the east slope and more particularly along the Front Range near Fort Collins and

Denver.

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