County of Boulder v. Boulder and Weld County Ditch Co

Summary

The court affirmed dismissal of Boulder County’s application for water rights, a plan for augmentation, a change of water rights, and an exchange right. The County failed to prove the historical consumptive use of the water right it sought to change because its analysis did not reliably quantify historical deliveries or establish that the claimed acreage was irrigated with that water. Without a reliable historical consumptive use calculation, the County also failed to show that the proposed change would not injure other water users, and the exchange request could not independently satisfy its replacement obligations.