When you go to a car dealership and slap some money on the barrel head for a car, you come out owning that vehicle. Your property right in that vehicle is fully vested and you can go drive it off a cliff if you want, and no one can complain to your heirs that you deprived them of their property. Now if this cliff was in a national park your heirs might hear from a couple dozen governmental agencies, but at least the car wouldn’t be a problem because your property right in the car is complete or perfect, and that title comes without conditions or restrictions.
Groundwater rights in Colorado come with restrictions. These government grants come in the form of adjudications which are water court decisions, or decrees which are decisions from the Colorado State Engineer.
Both forms of grants from the State of Colorado convey a limited right to a party to (a) use defined amounts of water, from (b) defined depths in the ground known as aquifers, that are (c) beneath specific areas of land, for (d) specific types of uses, on (e) specific surfaces of land.
A water right contains all of those elements and they combine to control the grant that gives an owner the limited right to put some of Colorado’s ground water to a beneficial use.
Look at the adjudicated rights that control the water in Wild Pointe. Look at the decreed water rights that control the wells in Wild Pointe. Notice how they all specify what land the water is to be used upon.
Mr. Nyquist seems to recognize the controlling authority of the State of Colorado in these matters. (Nyquist on state adjudication)
And he seems to recognize the controlling authority of the State of Colorado to determine the rate of water withdrawal. (Nyquist on withdrawal)
But he does seem to have a problem with the law when it comes to where he’s allowed to use the water. (Nyquist on export)
And he seems to be a little fuzzy on the limits that come with the water rights he privately owns. (Nyquist on our water)
Mr. Nyquist also seems to be fuzzy on the matter of speculation. Black’s Law Dictionary defines speculation as “the buying or selling of something with the expectation of profiting from price fluctuations.” Mr. Nyquist seems to recognize that Colorado law prohibits speculation in water… (Nyquist on speculation) …although his expression “hoping to double our money” apparently falls short of the “expectation of profit” necessary for speculation to occur. (Nyquist on doubling our money)
All audio clips excerpted from the public meeting at Legacy Academy on 8/17/11.
Update: Lamar Pipeline Plan Unchanged, developer says
“Our project will continue to move forward, the service plan amendment would have allowed Elbert County to participate in the benefits,” said Karl Nyquist, a partner in GP Water. “The service plan amendment was certainly not necessary for the project as proposed and we will move forward as planned.”
In the future, Nyquist might try life as a straight shooter with all parties, instead of continuing to play for the big score as a mercurial gamer. People want real facts, real law, and a sound reason to connect the two. They don’t want reality spun for them. Perhaps the recent ascendance of the left to national power followed by its’ precipitous decline indicates we’ve moved into a time of more sound sensibilities. One can hope anyway.