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Buyers must learn about water dilemma
By By:Sean Hadden
Well water levels are dropping each year in Douglas County and prospective property buyers need to educate themselves before their dreams of multi-acre gems turn to road apples.
It may be idyllic to live in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, but the water situation in parts of this county requires buyers to learn all they can about the available water supply on any property they are thinking of buying.
Two sections in the western part of the county, Margin A and Margin B, are at the edge of the Denver Basin aquifer system.
Right now, these aquifers are the source of water for the majority of the county's population.
With continuing growth, these margin areas are the first to see water levels drop.
Margin A overlays the extreme western edge of the basin, and because of the fragile underground water supply in this area, many kinds of development are not allowed unless an adequate source of surface water is proven.
People considering buying property in this area can start with the county's water supply standards, which are part of its zoning regulations.
Kevin Ryan of the Division of Water Resources in the State Engineer's Office said people should also check property titles for any information on a property's water supply.
"They should find a chain of title," Ryan said.
He said prospective buyers should also check with property sellers, and builders or developers who first improved the land in question.
"People should take the responsibility to query the seller of the developer as to the disposition of their Denver Basin water rights," Ryan said.
He said a woman recently came in and he spent considerable time researching her property.
"It took an hour-and-a-half to find out what a developer might have been able to tell her in about five minutes," he said.
If people cannot find the information they need from sellers of developers, they should visit the division, Ryan said.
There they will be shown how to conduct their own research, he said.
They can look at water rights tables and maps to see the status of water rights in their area, Ryan said.
If people desire a further level of comfort, they should contact a water attorney or engineer, he said.
As it stands now, property sellers and developers do not have to tell buyers that residential property gets half or more of its water from nonrenewable - groundwater - sources.
Senate Bill 101, being considered by the 2004 Colorado General Assembly, would require them to do so.
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