Concerning the Application for Amendment of an Augmentation Plan of Independence Water and Sanitation District in…

Summary

The court affirmed approval of Independence Water and Sanitation District’s amended augmentation plan for not-nontributary groundwater. It held that the anti-speculation doctrine does not apply to an application to obtain or amend an augmentation plan because augmentation plans serve a different function and the relevant judicial inquiry is whether the plan will injure existing water rights. The court found no clear error in the water court’s determination that the amended plan would not cause injury.