Tag Archives: theft

Elbert County Water Theft

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So who remembers when Tim Craft said he was waiving his rights to move water outside the Independence Special District boundaries? A bunch of us remember, and so did Elbert County notes from the public hearings… (click to enlarge)

Tim Craft Indepencence Hearing Waiving Water Export Rights

Elbert County’s Independence Hearing Notes

Of course one week before Christmas when nobody is looking, Tim Craft has petitioned the Colorado Water Court to do the opposite – he now wants to amend his decreed rights and export water off-site. (click to enlarge)

Independence Water Court Notice

From their public notice December 19, 2019;  “The decreed uses are in-house and irrigation on the subject property.  By this application, Applicant requests that the decreed uses be amended to include in-house, irrigation, domestic, municipal, industrial, commercial, stock watering, fire protection and exchange and augmentation purposes both on and off the subject property.”

And per their plan Larry and Moe Elbert County Commissioners sit silent. I’m not sure whether they are just that stupid or corrupt?  No hearing, not a peep from the Stooges. Crooked is, as crooked does, Fredo.

Do these clowns really believe that if Craft is granted his petition to amend his decreed water rights and move water outside his Independence boundaries – these county fools really believe they will somehow supersede Colorado Water Rights decreed by Colorado Water Court?  Better get with it and file your objections right now Douglas and Elbert County Folks – or as Tim Craft’s notice says in his first (and final) public notice, “or be forever barred“.

Concerned citizens are meeting at the Elizabeth library on January 7th (2020) at 7 PM to learn how to fill out the proper opposition forms, and also learn how to “piggyback” others oppositions.

It cost me $12,500 in March to lower a new pump 63′ after I ran dry just months after Independence started drilling their deep wells out back of my property. Coincidence? Nah… (click to enlarge)

Dawson Aquifer Well Filters

Independence Well Water

Who’s next? What’s your house worth without water? And for those with “adjudicated” water rights – what’s it going to cost you to tap the Denver or Arapahoe aquifers at roughly $20 a foot to find water because your well went dry? Maybe like Tim Craft personally told me, “we’ll provide you a tap!”  Of course you will Schmuck, at a monthly fee to sell me back the water you thieved from all of us in the first place.

Nothing we can do about the expected 9,922 vehicle in and outs A DAY off Hilltop Road\CR 158, but we can still try to save our wells!

Get with it folks. See you January 7th.

I’ll show off my Elbert County Commissioner replies to my emails in my next post. You won’t want to miss these!

Happy New Year!

Elbert County Water – Independence

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Elbert County WaterElbert County water. Answers on “how much” water we have below us depend on who you listen to, and who gives you the answer you want. Everybody ’round here is an expert. 100? 300? 600? 1,000 year supply? How ’bout 7-14 days? Just ask around a little bit, you’ll get whatever answer you wish.

Here’s what I do know:

Today, an old trusted friend at the Division of Water Resources turned me on to some docs for the Independence property.  And they may surprise you.

On that 1,011.93 acres now called “Independence”, the Colorado Water Board long ago granted 1,569 acre-feet of water a year.  A year.  Every year.

An acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons.  Times 1,569 acre-feet is over a HALF a BILLION gallons of water a year.  Every year.

And as section 7 clearly states:  “7. Proposed Use: The water will be used, reused, and successively used for municipal, domestic, commercial, industrial, irrigation, livestock watering, fire protection, and exchange and augmentation purposes, both on and off the Subject Property.”

Here’s the grant from the Colorado Water Board:  Link To Doc

Notice the FIVE aquifers.  Upper Dawson, Lower Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe and Laramie-Fox Hill.  Over a half a billion gallons of water already approved, and like my friend at the State says, “it’s their right. There’s nothing we can do if they transport water off site”.

Which is EXACTLY opposite what we all heard Tim Craft, Dianne Miller and the 3 Stooges tell the good citizens of Elbert County last September at the public hearing – when they stated no water will be moved outside of the Independence service area borders without a public hearing and County Commissioner approval.

What are the County Commissioners going to do when Craft and his band of bus driven crayon munching cronies start moving water out? I’m no attorney but from what my contact at the State said, there’s nothing but lawsuits straight ahead, and none of those involve the Division of Water Resources. Attempt to stop the owner of water from exercising his property rights, he sues the county. Allow him to export water, the county sues him. And in the end when all the smoke clears,  it’s almost guaranteed us citizens of Elbert County will have to sue them both (sound familiar?) and we will have to pay the costs associated. Our Commissioners put us in the trick bag – again.

Maybe I’ll have to dust off my A CDL and get a job driving one of those 7,000 gallon/80,000 pound tankers while our wells run dry.

Oh, the possibilities…