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inbasin users. We consider a delay of 6 years to be reasonable
for petitioner to complete a sale of the unused water.
We find that it is reasonably foreseeable that petitioner
would sell 33,000 acre feet for $450 per acre foot (increased for
inflation) 6 years after the valuation date, for a purchase price
of $17,215,220. Discounting the purchase price by 17 percent,
the value of the unused water at the valuation date was
$6,711,157.
D. Potential Unused Water
As we discussed above, rice farming and the demand for
irrigation water in Texas was expected to decline following the
valuation date. It was foreseeable that this decline would cause
water formerly used for irrigation to become available for sale
by petitioner for other uses. The water that would become
available as a result of the decrease in demand (the potential
water) gives additional value to petitioner’s water right. We
shall decide how much water was expected to become available,
when it was foreseeable that the water would become available,
and a reasonable discount rate.
Each expert used the same base price he had used for the
unused water analysis. Mr. Camp accounted for the potential
water by assuming that as 5,000 acre feet of water became
available, petitioner would apply for regulatory approval to
change its use and attempt to sell it. As we discussed above, he
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