Rancher, Douglas County fight over water rights
Man says officials thwarting efforts to sell his reserves
By April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published September 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Photo by Matt McClain / The Rocky
Charles Quisenberry stands by recharge pits on his Franktown ranch, which a part of the battle between him and Douglas County. The county disputes his claim that it's using land-use rules to control his water rights.
This county, one of the richest in the country, is running out of water.
Rancher Chuck Quisenberry says that's why local officials are preventing him from selling his water on the open market - so they can buy it cheap for themselves.
Douglas County officials say they're simply enforcing zoning rules to protect future water supplies.
In a lawsuit, Quisenberry, whose 106-acre ranch sits along Parker Road, charges that the county is abusing land-use rules to force him to keep his water, which he estimates at 400 million gallons annually, on his property.
Quisenberry maintains that he could sell it for tens of thousands of dollars to water-strapped towns and cities statewide.
"Because of water shortages, Douglas County has been trying to secure the water in their county, and the county has tried to backdoor Mr. Quisenberry's rights with land-use regulations," said attorney James Ruterbories, who represents Quisenberry.
"You have Castle Rock, Franktown, Parker and nothing between with no water except Quisenberry's 400 million gallons per year."
Pond permits dispute
At the center of the dispute are two ponds on Quisenberry's ranch that he wants to fill and use as "recharge pits," storage areas.
He claims that the county has consistently required him to obtain "special use by review permits" to fill the ponds. The catch, he said, is that the county won't grant the permits unless he dedicates his water to the property for future development needs.
Douglas County officials take issue with that characterization.
"The only time he has to come to us is if he wants to use the water on his land to support development in Douglas County," said Peter Italiano, county director of community development. "At that point, we're going to ask him if he has enough water, and is it dependable and reliable?"
The county, he said, has no real use for Quisenberry's water because it's not in the business of delivering water. That's for the job of towns, cities and water districts.
"Castle Rock, Centennial and Highlands Ranch are out every day looking for water - not the county," Italiano said. "For us to buy water, we'll have a commodity just sitting there in a closet collecting dust. We don't have pipes. We don't have storage reservoirs."
But Quisenberry says the Denver Basin aquifer is drying up, and it's a huge concern for Douglas County and its municipalities.
"Water is like crude oil in Colorado," Quisenberry said. "They're trying to claim my water to support big development. They're all in cahoots."
The two sides have been locked in a court battle for nearly a year that escalated this month when Quisenberry's attorneys ran a half-page notice in local newspapers asking residents to come forward "if they believe the county has interfered in their attempts to use their water rights."
Water near surface
Quisenberry, a retired Air Force colonel turned rancher, purchased the property in 2000 for $700,000.
The ranch is nestled along Parker Road and Castle Oaks Drive in Franktown.
Cherry Creek, a tributary of the South Platte River, flows through the property, and Quisenberry says that if you dig 3 feet, you hit water. The ranch has roughly 1,200 acre-feet of nonrenewable and renewable junior water rights,enough to serve 2,200 homes per year.
Quisenberry said he believes his water rights could fetch more than $90 million on the open market, but local water experts say he could sell his renewable groundwater for about $12 million.
In the last eight years, Quisenberry said, he has had to fight one battle after another to keep the county and the town of Castle Rock "from jumping his claim."
The ranch sits three miles south of Parker's Rueter-Hess Reservoir, a $165 million storage facility under construction that will capture and recycle groundwater and flows from Cherry Creek for Douglas County towns.
Castle Rock, which borders the ranch, recently struck a $44 million deal for storage in the Rueter-Hess but must now go out and find and purchase water to fill its portion.
'The whole package'
Quisenberry has junior water rights, not senior rights, so even if he prevails in court, he'd likely have to jump through a number of hurdles before he could profit, state officials said.
Landowners with senior water rights have first dibs on water. Those with junior rights are allowed Platte River water only after senior users have taken their allotment during nondrought years.
But unlike others with junior water rights, Quisenberry insists he has an ace in the hole: He can use recharge pits and replace water pulled from the Platte with his groundwater.
"That's what makes me different. I have the whole package, and the county knows it," he said.
In February 2007, the county issued Quisenberry a stop-work order on the two pits he planned to fill after a county employee filed a zoning violation complaint.
The county charged he was engaging in "grading and erosion" activity without a permit.
The county also classified his ponds as major water storage facilities because each pond has a capacity for 300,000 gallons or more.
County officials said it's a zoning rule put in place in the 1990s to ensure all developments within the county have the ability to provide a dependable source of water to their projects.
It is the county's understanding that water for Quisenberry's ponds will be provided by the Denver Basin, and zoning rule requires water in the basin to be reserved for the benefit of future landowners within the proposed development.
"With any land use in the county, we have an obligation to make sure there is an appropriate water supply," Italiano said.
Motive questioned
Quisenberry sued last November accusing the county of selectively enforcing its zoning rules.
In his lawsuit, Quisenberry stated that the ponds in question were leased and built on his property in 2005 by Richmond Homes to support its housing development next to his ranch.
Quisenberry claimed that for two years Douglas County looked the other way as Richmond Homes filled the ponds and used them for dust suppression.
Quisenberry said his latest troubles with the county started a month after Richmond Homes no longer had any use for the ponds.
The county consistently has bent the rules for developers and well-connected landowners as well as for its own open space projects, he claimed.
"Chuck Quisenberry is not a buddy-buddy developer," said Ruterbories, his attorney. "He's a small rancher they thought they would push around because they want his water, but they ran into a guy who is pushing back."
Italiano said the county was unaware Richmond Homes had built and used the ponds for two years. The county only has two code enforcement officers who cover a wide swath and, many times, only look into issues when a complaint is filed.
Italiano questions the motive behind Quisenberry's lawsuit, arguing he has never officially applied for the permits and, if, he had, he could have petitioned for a waiver.
Instead, he says, the rancher balked over the zoning rules and filed an appeal, which was denied by the county in 2007.
Quisenberry said he has little faith in the county's permit process. It's not the first project of his the county has blocked, he said.
Douglas County is considering exempting ponds such as Quisenberry's from the permitting process - making the rancher's lawsuit moot, Italiano said.
"I know some people who'll say we're doing this because of Quisenberry, but the county often amends its requirements when they feel they need tweaking," Italiano said.
Quisenberry called the gesture another "olive branch" that will produce little fruit.
washingtonam@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5086.
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September 22, 2008
3:37 a.m.
Suggest removal
roger44 writes:
Somebody better start pushing the politicians back. They are out for the guys with the big bucks and that's about it.
September 22, 2008
4:35 a.m.
Suggest removal
SteveFesch writes:
Chuck you should call the good people at Colorado Property Rights Coalition. www.thecprc.org
They can give you valuable information about your rights as a land owner. Property Rights in Colorado are at an all time low. It's time the people take a stand.
September 22, 2008
7:24 a.m.
Suggest removal
Francesca writes:
The article states: The county only has two code enforcement officers who cover a wide swath and, many times, only look into issues when a complaint is filed.
And Douglas County is considered among the wealthiest in the state? They're happy to collect the property taxes but when it comes down to enforcement they use a lame excuse. This is interesting.
September 22, 2008
8:15 a.m.
Suggest removal
Sensible writes:
LET THE GUY SELL HIS WATER!
DOUGLAS COUNTY CROOKS!
THIS WOULD'T EVEN BE AN ISSUE UNDER the McCain/Palin presidency.
They are for our rights not the rights of the government.
McCain/Palin '08!
September 22, 2008
9:17 a.m.
Suggest removal
hikingartist writes:
This guy is a vampire...selling blood from the earth...he didn't even built the retention ponds. I mean really, you support this carpet bagger that shows up in 2000 sits on his duff and trys to cash in charging you for free flowing water? Well line right up & buy some air and I'll throw in an hour of sun.
September 22, 2008
9:44 a.m.
Suggest removal
Sensible writes:
flamingartist -
Sorry to tell you that life's just not fair.
Go to China, where you can normalize capitalism on a small scale, and everything is "fair".
Lib
September 22, 2008
9:45 a.m.
Suggest removal
gs writes:
The government cannot take property without due process. He owns it. He gets to do what he wants. I'll admit he does look like a vampire but equal protection under the law is what I stand for. How about you?
September 22, 2008
9:50 a.m.
Suggest removal
Sensible writes:
actually he is selling water from the earth.
Blood is quite different and is sold in the Islamo-fascist markets.
Idjut greenylibs.
September 22, 2008
9:52 a.m.
Suggest removal
sunshinestate writes:
Douglas County as "rich"?
This is similar to Alaska's claim to be the "richest"-based on extractived minerals.
Colorado is ARID-a point many new residents do not understand.
Water is wealth,and you don't have that much. Period.The reality will supercede the rediculous poltical views posted here.
September 22, 2008
10:35 a.m.
Suggest removal
Buckwheat writes:
Looks like the county is trying to button hole his water rights so that they can sell more water taps (=big money) to new home builders (ie more tax revenue). The county knew that the sale of the property came with water rights back in 2000. So why didn't they purchase the property back then. Its' obvious that the water rights are worth more than the initial cost of the property to begin with. Nah, sorry Douglas County you snooze you should loose. to bad they can't use Eminent Domain (sp?) and just steal his water uh?
September 22, 2008
10:44 a.m.
Suggest removal
buffsblg writes:
Only really one side of the story here and this guy certainly has a high opinion of himself, which makes me suspicious. he might be a victim, or he might be a guy who does not like it when the rules apply to him and now is trying to play the victim to end run the courts and the system. The fact that he has not even applied for the permits he claims are being denied seems that he just wants the rules to be waived for him.
September 22, 2008
11:02 a.m.
Suggest removal
JohnBernardBooks writes:
If you want to see what a county looks like after the life blood of water is sold off ( to Aurora C Springs and Pueblo West ) look at Crowley County. But in Colorado, water rights are a property right subject to the protection of our constitution.
If a home rule city like Denver bought his land and water, Douglas County would be denied P&Z control over the land. Dillon Reservoir is the best example in Summit County. The mountain folks can't even keep the their dam road open!
September 22, 2008
2:54 p.m.
Suggest removal
COGrownFarmBoy writes:
I am also very suspicious of this situation. I would guess that the reason that he has water so close to the surface is because of seepage from the flow of the river and so if he starts pumping that water to fill his retention ponds he is actually reducing the river flow and thereby damaging senior water rights holders downstream. The Colorado Water Engineer shut down most of the wells in the Arkansas Valley several years ago because he held that they were drawing down the level of the river. This severely damaged my family because there were fields that we had been irrigating for over 50 years that it was difficult or impossible to get ditch water to and so we have had significantly reduced production. The fact that he bought the land for $700,000, 8 years ago and now thinks he can sell the water for $80,000,000 is also a signal that something is very fishy about what he wants to do. Water Rights and Water Law are very complicated issues and it sounds to me like this guy is trying to take advantage of other people with senior interests.
September 22, 2008
6:52 p.m.
Suggest removal
DieselWeasel writes:
I know this man and live only a couple of miles from him. He is a good man. Every time he tries to do something productive with his land the county puts up a roadblock. He once tried to build ball fields on his property, something sorely lacking here, and the county stopped him from that! There are many super-expensive ($1,000,000 & up) developments going in that aren't shown on the map in the paper (Pradera, The Timbers). They've ruined this part of Douglas County. That's big taxes. It looks to me like the county wants more to be built but they have to have water which will all come from the aquifer he sits on until Reuter-Hess reservoir is done. I hope you win your suit, Chuck. Good luck!
September 22, 2008
9:01 p.m.
Suggest removal
roadstar writes:
Dear Chuck, Check out the Mapquest aerial view of the private gated community on Castle Pointe Dr., south and west of the old entrance to Castlewood in Franktown. Some of the estates have man-made, very HUGE ponds/lakes for personal use with docks, etc. One even has a very large, very green baseball diamond and field (Hmm. How is it kept green?) I wonder what kind of permits they got for their excessive, selfish use of Dougas County's drought water?
September 22, 2008
9:02 p.m.
Suggest removal
youme writes:
this government does not represent you, you are a speed bump to them.
September 22, 2008
10:51 p.m.
Suggest removal
DubyaDouglas1 writes:
Looking at his property... there ain't any cows for being a so-called rancher. He's dug some pretty big holes in the ground to capture "his water." I hope somebody checks to make sure his ponds can hold all that water safely w/o flooding others. Is he building a dam?
His junior rights mean he is behind a lot of people for that water, so hopefully he isn't taking it from others. Seems to me that using the ground water to replace creek water is a fancy shell game this guy is trying to play.
September 23, 2008
10:19 a.m.
Suggest removal
Citizen21 writes:
Property owners are loosing every day in Colorado by laws put into effect after the fact. Water rights are crucial here. Especially as the counties have allowed developers to overbuild and HOA's require "green grass". Not to mention, Colorado's water is sold to other states. I sure do hope it works out for Chuck Quisenberry. It just would not be right if it didn't.