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petitioner would still be able to sell water to others in the
event that a transfer did not occur. Although the changes the
1997 legislature would impose on the regulation of water in the
Colorado River Basin were unforeseeable as of the valuation date,
the regulatory and legislative risks affecting the Corpus Christi
transaction were not so great as to require a 30-percent discount
rate. Given that petitioner had a buyer and a purchase price set
before the valuation date, a 15-percent discount, as Mr. Scheig
used, sufficiently factors in the regulatory and legislative
risks.
After 3 years of monthly payments, plus the payments that
were made before the valuation date, the balance due at closing
of $450 per acre foot would be $13,810,000. Discounted at 15
percent, the value of this closing payment is $9,080,299.
Therefore, the total value of the Corpus Christi component,
including the monthly payments, is $9,853,428.
C. The Unused Water
After providing 100,000 acre feet of water to its irrigation
customers and 35,000 acre feet to Corpus Christi, petitioner had
the right to use 33,000 additional acre feet of water (the unused
water) from the Colorado River. In the several years leading up
to the valuation date, the unused water flowed past petitioner’s
diversion point. There was no evidence that petitioner’s
irrigation customers, the rice farmers, anticipated a need for
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