NO on Water 7E

Vote NO on Water 7 E.

 The long healthy ears of corn are from part of the field not swamped out by Central.
The runts are from the swampy part. 

Central Colorado Water Conservancy District promotes 7E as “supporting family farms." That, is verifiably misleading! 

7E has nothing to do with farming. It has instead, everything to do with taking Senior Water away from its owners and moving it east past its flow’s historic drying; there, it’s diverted and sold to Water buyers for various uses.  

Documentation proves that since 2006, Senior Water Rights have been, and continue to be illegally “taken without just compensation.”

Through Colorado’s illegitimate Water Courts, certain entities have deployed an exceptionally creative host of methods to take water without paying original Senior Water Rights Owners.

Too many of my Farmer friends have been significantly harmed by Water Court(s) and Central. This is my small contribution to help them get justice. 

Here’s an extreme brief of my firsthand experience with Central.

To put it bluntly, I have no use whatsoever for Central or Kangaroo Court; my tag for Water Court.  

Here’s why: Central has become Agriculture’s main obstruction on the upper S. Platte.

Their illegal dumping of augmentation water into my privately-owned drain ditch is virtually destroying my farm. 

Central,  along with John Stulp just laugh at my in-person request and letters from my attorney to “Stop dumping augment water in my seep ditch!”

Their continuation of illegal dumping has added to the already rising water table. This damages the soil rendering it useless for crop growth. 
Because I can no longer lease that acreage, I’m accruing considerable losses in revenue.

Very soon I will cap the portion of the augmentation pipe that was illegally installed on part of my property. It now dumps right onto my private property. By stopping the illegal dumping, it is my hope that after a couple years the swampy acreage will return to Production Acreage; that which it was for a hundred years. 

Colorado Water courts refuse to recognize the “Allotment Quantity” of Senior Water Rights owners. Instead, they use a “Consumptive Use” method to value water shares. Then they claim, “because the water table’s high, you don’t need to use as much…therefore…”

Here’s a general breakout: Surface water stock is sold by acre feet of consumptive use at today’s price per share of around $10,000.00 per acre foot. 

In 2004, Godfrey shares were allocated by Water court as Consumptive Use at 19.5 acre feet per share. Thus, at today’s value of surface water, a surface water share would be $195,000.00.

In 2006, it dropped to 15.5-acre feet per share and thus $155,000.00 per share. 

Seeing their use of Consumptive Use dropping, and how rapidly this was devaluating water shares, in 2016 I sold 17 of my 21 shares at $123,000.00 per share.

Consider though, the total equity loss on 21 shares was $1.5 million dollars.

At the rate Colorado Water Court devalues Water shares, coupled with Centrals actions, they’ll soon be worth nothing.

It saddens me that most farmers haven’t figured this out. The ones who have sold, packed up lock, stock and barrel, and moved out of Colorado!

If Roni and I were younger, we’d do the same!

I’m still losing equity on my four remaining shares. But will keep them to irrigate my horse pastures - and maintain my exercise in doing so.

If you’re interested in learning the bigger picture, Roni and I would be honored to visit.

7E is a crop killer! NO on 7E!

Thank you,

Chuck Sylvester

7E is a crop killer!

 

This shows the difference pre-illegal and post illegal dumping.