Court Opinion

ID: 9789833
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 01:42:28.569375+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:34:09.637522
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Frantz
specially concurring:
The decree entered by the Hon. Paul L. Littler on August 23, 1948, adjudicating water rights based upon the doctrine of appropriation, found that “the water contained in these sands is not tributary to any natural surface stream” (Emphasis supplied.) This finding does not negate the fact that such water may be tributary to a natural subsurface stream. If these waters are tributary to a natural subsurface stream, they are subject to the doctrine of appropriation. Safranek v. Limon, 123 Colo. 330, 228 P. (2d) 975.
Moreover, there is no finding in this decree that this was an aquifer and that the court was adjudicating water rights in an aquifer.
These are additional important reasons for my special concurrence. *