Summary

Water Issues

Meter Reading Help

Background and Overview of
Water Augmentation
in King's Deer Homeowners Assocation

Background
In October of every year King's Deer HOA collects the meter reading of every well in King's Deer, calculates the amount of water drawn from that well over the past 12 months, and sends the readings and calculations to the Office of the State Engineer, and Division of Water Resources. This is a requirement imposed upon the HOA by the Colorado Water Court as a condition for King's Deer well owners to be able to draw water from well. The Water Court set a series of conditions that restrict how water drawn from the wells may be used and how much water may be drawn from the wells each year. These conditions are set forth as a decree of the court as a court-approved water augmentation plan. (Download a short primer on water augmentation.)

There are actually three different water augmentation plans that apply to King's Deer wells. One applies to the first 119 properties developed in the early 1990's; the second applies to the remaining 413 King's Deer residential properties developed in the latter part of the 1990's; and the third plan was applies to those properties whose owners have purchased additional water rights from PDWC and applied those rights to the well permit on their property. The first plan was filed with the court in 1993 and is therefore referred to as the "93 plan." The second was filed with the court in 1994 and is referred to as the "94 plan." The third was filed with the court in 2019 and is referred to as the "19 plan."

The plans limit the amount of water that may be drawn from a King's Deer well in a year. The 93 plan sets the limit at 123,824 gallons (0.38 acre-feet), the 94 plan sets the limit slightly higher at 136,532 gallons (0.419 acre-feet), while the 19 plan allows for up to 244,388 gallons (0.75 acre-feet).

Which Water Augmentation Plan Applies to My Property?
The 93 plan applies to almost all lots in filings 1 through 4 of King's Deer "Classic" Subdivision, and to lots 1 through 7 in filing 5. The 94 plan applies to lots number 8, 9, and 10 in filing 5 of King's Deer "Classic" subdivision, all lots in filing 6 of King's Deer "Classic," and all properties in the King's Deer Highlands Subdivision.

Water augmentation requirements are another feature in how the two plans differ. The 93 plan requires King's Deer HOA to perform annual water augmentation to tributaries of Monument Creek. The 94 plan also requires the HOA to perform water augmentation to Monument Creek but the annual augmentation does not have to begin until 2029.

Water augmentation is accomplished for the HOA through a third party. When first creating King's Deer the developer arranged for a company to accomplish the annual water augmentation requirement for properties under the 93 plan. King's Deer HOA pays an annual "dues" to the company, and in exchange the company pumps from their well into Monument Creek the amount of water required each year by the 93 plan. For the lots subject to the 94 plan water augmentation was not immediately required, so the developer did not establish a way for water augmentation to be accomplished. This is an issue that the King's Deer Board of Directors is currently working to resolve.