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3. Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014
Notes to Financial Statements  
8. Contingencies

Water Rights Contingency

 

When we purchased the Eldorado Springs property in 1983, included in the purchase of the real estate were certain water rights that had been decreed for the water sources located on the property. We have the right to beneficially use the water derived from the sources of water that are the subject of the decreed water rights, unless there is a call being made downstream from our location by a water right that is senior to ours. A senior water right would be obtained by those that applied water to a beneficial use prior to the uses associated with our water sources. Because the Eldorado Springs area was not developed until the early 1900’s there are many senior water rights that could place a call on the stream and unless we have a recognized replacement source of water or a decreed augmentation plan (“Augmentation Plan”), we would be forced to stop using the water from our sources.

 

Because demand for our spring water exists on a year round basis, we require a replacement water source that can be delivered to the stream at any time during the year. Since the drought of 2002, we purchased shares of stock of FRICO, entitling us to use a pro rata portion of the water belonging to FRICO as operated pursuant to state regulations that govern what are known as Mutual Ditch Companies. The Marshall reservoir is located in close proximity to our water sources in Eldorado Springs and because the water is stored, it can be released upon demand to meet our obligations.

 

 

The water represented by our shares in the FRICO system had been historically used for irrigating croplands. This meant that, in addition to obtaining a decreed Augmentation Plan from the Colorado Water Court, we had to obtain a change of use decree in order to use the water for replacing our withdrawals as part of the Augmentation Plan. The Water Court of the State of Colorado entered a Decree on April 16, 2013 approving the change in water rights and the terms and conditions of our Augmentation Plan, subject to the retained jurisdiction clauses normally associated with such actions. The Decree allows us to use the water represented by our FRICO shares as augmentation water to replace our out-of-priority withdrawals from our springs and other sources. It also established the conditions under which we can add other sources of water to the Augmentation Plan for use as additional replacement water. It is possible that our ability to withdraw water from our springs in a particular year may be limited if the water associated with our FRICO shares under drought conditions is not sufficient to meet all of our replacement requirements. Because drought is an ever present possibility in our location, we will continue to seek additional sources of replacement and augmentation water to add to our Augmentation Plan.