Opinion ID: 2630950
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Slate Ditch

Text: FRICO argues that Broomfield's calculation of the historic beneficial consumptive use of the water from the Slate Ditch improperly included water used on the Salinas Parcel. The water court considered this argument and ultimately rejected it, relying on evidence presented at trial. The evidence at trial showed that Broomfield owns 115 shares out of 210 shares in the Lupton Meadows Ditch Company. The Lupton Meadows Ditch Company owns a right to use 7/50ths of six cubic feet per second (c.f.s.) of water in the Slate Ditch with a priority date of 1893 and a right to use six c.f.s. of water in the Slate Ditch with a priority date of 1917. FRICO argues that the right conferred in the 1893 appropriation excluded water used on the Salinas Parcel. The water court considered two decrees and witness testimony in finding that both the 1893 and 1917 water rights were appropriated for use on lands that included the Salinas Parcel. According to a 1918 decree, the 1893 appropriation was for irrigation of three hundred acres of land. A second decree from 1924 stated that the 1917 appropriation was also for the irrigation of three hundred acres of land. Jennifer Ashworth, Broomfield's expert witness, testified that the Salinas Parcel is within the three hundred acres referred to in both decrees. Moreover, Howard Cantrell, who owned the lands irrigated by the Lupton Meadows Ditch Company, testified that both the 1893 and 1917 appropriations were historically used on the Salinas Parcel. Thus, the record supports the trial court's finding that both the 1893 and 1917 appropriations included water used on the Salinas Parcel.