The Lower Boulder Ditch traces its roots to the earliest days of irrigation in Boulder County, when settlers first cut ditches to bring water from Boulder Creek to irrigate lands east of Boulder. The predecessor to the Lower Boulder Ditch, the Boone and Dority Ditch, appropriated water from Boulder Creek on October 1, 1859. A second appropriation was made on June 1, 1870. Three separate companies—the Lower Boulder Ditch Company, the Lower Boulder Extension Ditch Company, and the Lower Boulder Lateral Ditch Company—originally built and operated parts of what is now the Lower Boulder Ditch system. On November 22, 1902, they merged to form the Consolidated Lower Boulder Reservoir and Ditch Company (the “Consolidated Company”).

As a result of the above appropriations of water, the Consolidated Company owned two decreed water rights: a 25 cubic feet per second (“cfs”) right, with the June 1, 1859, priority—the senior water right in the entire South Platte River Basin—and a 97 cfs right, with a June 1, 1870 priority. The Company also owns an allotment contract for 423 units of the Colorado-Big Thompson (“CBT”) Project allocated by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (“Northern Water”).

B.     The South Platte Supply Canal, Recent History of the Consolidated Company and the New Consolidated Lower Boulder Reservoir and Ditch Company

For nearly a century, the Consolidated Company delivered water to agricultural families and adapted to the changing needs of the growing urban community. In the 1950s, this same ditch became something more—a critical link in one of the most ambitious water projects in the American West. As part of the CBT Project, Northern Water enlarged the Lower Boulder Ditch to carry approximately 200 cfs of water along its length pursuant to an agreement with the Consolidated Company. The Coal Ridge Ditch Company entered into a similar agreement with Northern Water allowing the conveyance of CBT project water from Boulder Creek to Sand Hill Lake, which is at the end of the Coal Ridge Ditch. From there, Northern Water delivers water a short distance to the South Platte River where it can be re-diverted by the Platte Valley Irrigation Company, an owner of CBT project water. Because this system eventually delivers water to the South Platte River, Northern Water has labeled the combined ditch and reservoir system stretching from Boulder Creek to the South Platte River the South Platte Supply Canal (the “SPSC.”)

In 1996, the Company formed and issued shares in the New Consolidated Lower Boulder Reservoir and Ditch Company (the “New Consolidated Company”). Shares in the New Consolidated Company were provided to shareholders of the Consolidated Company, and the assets of the Consolidated Company —except for its shares in the Base Line Land and Reservoir Company—were transferred to the New Consolidated Company. The New Consolidated Company continues to operate the Lower Boulder Ditch and associated infrastructure to this date. There are two classes of shares in the New Consolidated Company, preferred and common. There are 200 preferred shares and 198 common shares outstanding. The preferred shares have a more senior right to water.