Concerning the Application for Water Rights of County of Boulder in Boulder County County of Boulde — Coats, J…

Summary

The concurrence would affirm the water court's denial of Boulder County's change application because the applicant failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the historical consumptive use of the water right at issue. It concludes that the water court reasonably rejected the applicant's circumstantial evidence and that reversal was unwarranted absent clearly erroneous factual findings or a legal error. The concurrence also cautions that the majority improperly converted case-specific evidentiary concerns into broad requirements for proving historical consumptive use.