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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Forks water would be $80 per acre-foot of yield per year, the alternative cost would be

$45 per acre-foot per year.

Priority of Ri!!ht

The Three Forks Project has a priority date of 1972. This date is not particularly

early nor is it prior to some controlling event such as the Upper Colorado River Compact.

Also, there are few developed water rights on the Little Snake River post-1972.

Therefore, if the Three Forks Project water rights were to be cancelled and re-filed in

1990, the yield of the proposed development would be affected only slightly. To confirm

this deductive hypothesis, the WIRSOS model of the Little Snake River was reoperated

with the Three Forks Project assigned a priority of 1990 (Scenario 4 of WWC, 1990). The

yield of the 1990 water right is the same as for the 1972 priority.

The implication of this finding is that the conditional water right has little value.

Also, if P & M were to cancel or drop its water rights, some entity could theoretically

refile on the project with a 1990 priority and cause the same impacts to the flow of the

river as the existing proposed project. Thus, if a sale of P & M's water rights were to

take place, some assurance would be required that the project could not be re-filed. The

means of accomplishing this is not known.

Cost of FiJi"!! and Desi!!" Work

As noted above, the State of Wyoming purchased the conditional water right for

the Middle Fork Reservoir on the Powder River. The negotiated price was based on the

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