Water Rights Engineering
DiNatale Water Consultants specializes in water resources engineering with experience in all aspects of water rights analysis, engineering and water court procedures including expert testimony and consulting expert to water attorneys in key water court litigation. DiNatale Water Consultants has recently provided assistance to water rights owners in the South Platte, Colorado and Rio Grande basins.
Expertise and assistance is offered in the following areas:
- Analysis of the acquisition and development of existing and new water rights
- Development of water rights and water supply accounting
- Filing of new direct flow and storage rights, augmentation plans and exchanges
- Substitute Water Supply Plans
- Change of use of water rights including transfers from agricultural to municipal and industrial use
- Changes in point of diversion, location and type of use
- Protection of water rights through participation in water court and administrative actions
- Water quality litigation and water quality considerations in augmentation plans
- Groundwater rights — tributary and non-tributary
- Ditch and reservoir company assistance including right of way and easement issues, seepage and historical use
- Assistance to ranchers and farmers on evaluation of water rights, efficiency improvements and water rights valuation
- Water rights appraisals
Mr. DiNatale has participated in numerous water court proceedings, both as an applicant and objector. He is qualified as an expert witness in Colorado Water Court and has provided expert testimony in a number of complex water court proceedings and also served as a consulting expert to water attorneys. He has participated in negotiations with the State Engineer, Division Engineer and municipal, industrial and agricultural water users on water rights issues.
Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company (FRICO) Alternative Agriculture Transfer Methods ProjectDiNatale Water Consultants served as the lead investigator on the Colorado Water Conservation Board’s Alternative Agriculture Transfer Methods Grand Program for the Farmer’s Reservoir & Irrigation Company (FRICO) project. The project investigated a number of alternative agricultural water transfer methods, including rotational fallowing, interruptible supply agreements, lease back agreements, changes in cropping patterns and a shared water bank. The objective of these methods is to reduce consumptive use for purposes of transferring this “reduced” consumptive use to municipal or industrial users. Surveys of irrigators and municipal and industrial water providers were conducted to evaluate attitudes and understanding of alternative agricultural transfer methods. Water market experiments were conducted to evaluate the impact of water leasing on rural communities, overall efficiency and the distribution of profits across water users. A shared water bank concept was evaluated that would utilize existing FRICO infrastructure to divert, manage and store excess municipal and industrial supplies for later use by both FRICO agricultural shareholders and the municipal users when needed. The final report “Water Partnerships: An Evaluation of Alternative Agricultural Water Transfer Methods in the South Platte Basin” presents the findings of the project.
View “Water Partnerships: An Evaluation of Alternative Agricultural Water Transfer Methods in the South Platte Basin” (PDF)
The Colorado Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI) identified the continuance of agricultural transfers in the South Platte basin. DiNatale Water Consultants is serving as the project lead for the East Cherry Creek Valley Water and Sanitation District Alternative Agriculture Transfer Methods project which will explore the opportunities to maintain some level of agricultural productivity on lands that are the subject of a water court transfer to M&I uses, either permanently or as part of a rotational fallowing or interruptible supply agreement. The United Water and Sanitation District and the Arapahoe County Water and Wastewater Authority are co-sponsors and participants in this study and Colorado State University is a member of the project team. The two primary alternatives to revegetation of fallowed land that would be the subject of this Project are:
- Dry-land farming
- Dry-land farming with the allocation of a specified limited amount of water (limited irrigation) needed to provide greater assurances of producing a dry-land crop yield under most climatic conditions
Mr. DiNatale presented expert testimony for the City of Westminster, CO in a trial in the Plan for Augmentation for the City of Golden. This case involved planned indirect potable reuse. The City of Westminster and other objectors prevailed in this case and led to Clear Creek Water Agreement, a complex water rights exchange and water quality enhancement agreement that settled a 15-year water rights and water quality dispute on Clear Creek, Colorado among the cities of Golden, Thornton and Westminster, and the Coors Brewing Company.
Mr. DiNatale has testified as an expert in Water Court on the water quality issues concerning the quality of substitute water supply in augmentation plans. He presented to the Colorado Bar Association, Continuing Legal Education seminar on Water Quality in Colorado Water Rights Cases.
View CLE Paper on Water Quality Considerations in Augmentation Plans (PDF)
View “Water Quality Standards in Augmentation Plans and Exchanges: What Are They and What Should They Be?”
DiNatale Water served as consulting expert to the attorney for the applications of East Cherry Creek Valley Water and Sanitation District and United Water and Sanitation District for the change of use of water rights, exchanges and plan for augmentation.
Mr. DiNatale assisted in drafting a report for the Colorado Agricultural Alliance “Meeting Colorado’s Future Water Supply Needs: Opportunities and Challenges Associated with Agricultural Conservation Measures.” This report examined the water law and water engineering opportunities and constraints to implementation of agricultural efficiency measures.
View “Meeting Colorado’s Future Water Supply Needs” (PDF)
