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Indian Mountain Property Owners Letter <br />October 11, 2016 <br />Page 2 <br />Now let me get down to what all of the above information has to do with you as a property owner in <br />Indian Mountain subdivision (Subdivision). <br />The Decree entered in 1974 created a plan for augmentation to allow the individual lot owners in the <br />Subdivision to obtain a water supply for in-house purposes from on -lot wells. The Decree also <br />changed the use of parts of three water rights (the Slater Ditch (Ditch), Tarryall Ranch Reservoir No. <br />1 (Reservoir 1) and Tarryall Ranch Reservoir No. 2 (Reservoir 2)) to be used to augment these on -lot <br />wells to prevent injury to senior users. <br />The Decree basically operates by providing augmentation water from the Ditch in the summer and <br />water from Reservoir 2 in the winter. However, the Decree did not expressly convey the changed <br />water rights to the Subdivision lot owners. This non -conveyance does not impact use of the Ditch <br />right because that water is simply left in the stream. It does impact the Reservoir 2 right because <br />the non -conveyance led to the litigation mentioned in the second paragraph of this letter (Park <br />County District Court No. 14CV30056 and Court of Appeals No. 15CA1055) after the Reservoir 2 right <br />was sold a few years ago. The current result of this litigation is that the present Reservoir 2 (AKA <br />Tarryall Ranch Reservoir) owners (now Bar Star Water, LLC) may charge individual well owners for <br />releasing replacement water from the reservoir. <br />All of the well permits currently issued within the Subdivision were issued only because they are <br />covered by the Decree and must continue to be covered by a plan for augmentation. Likewise, any <br />future well permits within the Subdivision will only be issued in compliance with a decreed pian for <br />augmentation, either the existing Decree or, possibly, another plan for augmentation able to cover <br />wells within the Subdivision. <br />I realize that many of you do not agree with the current result of the litigation discussed above. I <br />hope you all realize that I must remain neutral in this dispute. My duty is to follow state water law <br />and the decrees of the Courts. As part of that duty, I have to tell you that all wells within the <br />Subdivision MUST be covered by an operating plan of augmentation to continue to legally pump. <br />Please understand that I am NOT telling you that your well must be or is not covered by the plan for <br />augmentation represented by the Decree. Continuing to have your well covered under the Decree is <br />one option. I believe there are also other options to cover your well in a plan for augmentation if <br />your well is first removed from the Decree through a court action. You may want to contact the <br />Indian Mountain Property Owners Association or Indian Mountain Metropolitan District or Bar Star <br />Water, LLC for information on other options (plans for augmentation) that could cover wells within <br />the Subdivision. <br />It appears that unless wells in the Indian Mountain Subdivision are removed from the Decree* through <br />a court action, the augmentation plan operators are required to make releases for all of the wells. <br />The water commissioner recently ordered Bar Star to release water from storage for the winter <br />obligation of the estimated 625 wells permitted and connected to dwellings within Indian Mountain <br />Subdivision. We will work diligently to enforce that order, but if replacement water is not provided <br />to the stream, senior water rights will be injured and I will be forced to issue well curtailment orders <br />for all of the wells in the Subdivision. Furthermore, we will not be able to issue new well permits <br />pursuant to the Decree. I will meet with Bar Star Water, LLC to clarify that they need to make a <br />release to cover all of the wells in the subdivision. Any payment or collection of fees for the <br />operation of the augmentation plan under the Decree is an issue between the parties subject to the <br />requirements of the Decree (currently Bar Star Water, LLC and subdivision well owners). <br />