Widefield Water & Sanitation District v. Witte

11 In this interlocutory appeal from the water court, the applicants seek to change the use of an absolute water right. The relevant decree for that right expressly identifies the precise acres to be irrigated. To ensure that their proposed change would not result in an unlawful expansion of use, the applicants conducted a historical consumptive use ("HCU") analysis to determine the amount of water previously used in accordance with the decreed right. But they performed this analysis on acreage not contemplated by the original appropriation, nor by any subsequent decree. The water court…