Three Bells Ranch Associates V. Cache La Poudre Water Users Association

This case arises out of a conflict between the operators of a gravel quarry and water users on the over-appropriated Cache La Poudre River. The conflict concerns the responsibility of the quarry operators to make advance provisions to compensate for the water that will be lost by evaporation when the gravel removal operations are completed and ponds of ground water remain in the gravel pits as part of a reclamation plan. The plaintiff water users obtained a declaratory judgment against the quarry operators in the District Court for Water Division No. 1. The court held that the reclamation of the mined property by the creation of lakes or ponds caused by digging gravel pits to depths below the water table will constitute an appropriation of water as defined in section 37-92-103(3)(a), 15 C.R.S. (1987 Supp.), and that the gravel pits will be wells, as defined in section 37-90-103(21), 15 C.R.S. (1973). As a result, the operators will be required to obtain well permits from the state engineer, which in turn will require that they adopt a plan for augmentation to compensate for any injury that will be caused to owners of senior water rights by the gravel removal and reclamation activities. The water users are principally concerned about the evaporative losses that will occur from the surface of the ponds. The quarry operators appealed, contending that the issues are not appropriate for resolution by declaratory judgment at this time and that the district court erred in its resolution of each of the questions presented. We conclude that the district court was correct in all respects and therefore affirm the judgment.