Services

Water Rights Support

Western water law has evolved since the notorious water wars of the late 1800s. Resolving water disputes in the west no longer involves a fight at the ditch headgate.

Water law and water rights engineering have replaced physical altercations to resolve disputes; more humane but often greatly more complex. When your water assets are threatened you need a firm that knows the law as well as other practical approaches to maximizing water rights yields, developing new supplies, and navigating permitting.

We provide expertise in water accounting, water rights adjudications, well permit applications, substitute water supply plans (SWSP), water supply augmentation plans, yield analysis, water rights and storage valuations. We use cutting-edge modeling software to create roadmaps needed to protect your valuable assets, and we prepare expert reports for litigation. We excel in the combination of current analytic capabilities coupled with a heavy dose of creativity and plain old common sense.

Example Projects

Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) RiverWare Model

In support of the Grand River Comprehensive Water Plan, DiNatale Water is developing a multi-reservoir yield and management model for the Grand River Basin, a tributary of the Arkansas River, based on the existing US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Arkansas River RiverWare Model. This effort is ongoing and includes first characterizing key features and constraints within the existing USACE Arkansas River model. Next, we are developing the existing Arkansas River operations model to allow for modeling of yield and supply availability of reservoirs operated by GRDA.

DiNatale Water is also updating both the model hydrology by adding tributaries to better evaluate hydrologic inflows and model logic and operations to incorporate refined demands, contracts, permits, estimated consumptive use and return flows, and information from other GRDA planning efforts. Additional work includes adjusting rule curves and determining where to permit yield to help meet minimum flow requirements to maintain dissolved oxygen levels below reservoirs, as well as analyzing and documenting initial model output including yield, reliability, and availability.

Clear Creek County

Located at the headwaters of Clear Creek, the County had previously obtained a county-wide plan for augmentation through the Division 1 Water Court in Case No. 05CW302. This “umbrella” plan for augmentation allows for various types of water use from irrigation to evaporation to snowmaking, thereby enabling water users located within the County to join into a plan for augmentation without obtaining their own water court decree. DiNatale Water contracted with the County in 2019 and has since assisted the County with managing this plan for augmentation, including evaluating potential customers to the plan, completing daily, monthly, and annual accounting and reporting requirements, and assisting the County with water use projections and water supply planning. DiNatale Water has assisted the County with its additional water rights and helped the County to maintain its diligence associated with these water rights.

Raccoon Creek Golf Course

Raccoon Creek Golf Course is located in Littleton, Colorado and makes use of a series of six, on-channel ponds along the creek from which the golf course’s name is derived, Raccoon Creek. To replace the increase in evaporation that occurs from the usage of on-channel ponds, the Golf Course contracted with DiNatale Water to assist with a water court application and corresponding substitute water supply plan. Additionally, DiNatale Water has developed a functional accounting template to help track the evaporation and necessary replacement supplies. To quantify the replacement supplies, DiNatale Water has conducted a historical consumptive use analysis on water rights owned by the Golf Course to be changed in water court to allow for use as a replacement supply.

Cottonwood Hollow

Mortgage Consultants is building a multi-faceted housing development called Cottonwood Hollow near Firestone, Colorado. DiNatale Water is assisting with the analysis and development of the Cottonwood Hollow water supply. DiNatale Water has performed a preliminary evaluation of surface water rights (for ditches in the Boulder Creek Basin), identified potential groundwater resources, and researched augmentation needs to guarantee an appropriate and adequate water supply. DiNatale Water has quantified projected water demands and is coordinating with providers, including the Town of Firestone, regarding water supply, treatment requirements, and capacity.

Northern Water Supply Project

East Cherry Creek Valley Water and Sanitation District (ECCV), Arapahoe County Water and Wastewater Authority (ACWWA), and United Water and Sanitation District are developing a water supply project to deliver over 10,000 AFY of renewable South Platte River supply to the south Denver metro area. DiNatale Water assists in the preparation of water court applications, substitute water supply plans, augmentation plans, analytical tools, groundwater modeling and operations studies. DiNatale Water Consultants has conducted modeling to assess water rights yield, exchange potential, and pumping and augmentation strategies. In addition, DiNatale Water prepares and submits water accounting to the Colorado Division of Water Resources, and assists clients in capital planning, water quality studies, and capital improvement and operations and maintenance cost estimates.