Home » What We Do » Our Specialties

Water Rights

Water Rights AppraisalsWe have conducted water rights appraisals in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming and New Mexico . The bulk of our work has been in the South Platte and Arkansas Basins.

A large portion of our water rights work involves water rights that are associated with farm or ranch appraisals. These situations can vary from water rights with little potential for municipal conversion to water that is already being accepted for development dedication by municipalities.

McCarty Land & Water has completed more than 30 appraisals of water storage facilities (primarily sealed gravel pits) in the last 15 years. In addition, most gravel resource appraisals include a present-worth estimate relating to the eventual water-storage value.

Certain water rights assignments require collaboration with engineers and attorneys. When a water right is undergoing or may undergo a change of use:

  • The engineer's role in the appraisal is to provide consumptive-use estimates for the subject water rights and to establish consumptive-use estimates for comparable sales.
  • The attorney's role is to define legally permissible uses for the water right. The attorney may also provide cost and time estimates for the change of use that factor into the appraisal.
  • The role of the appraiser is to take the information provided by these professionals and apply recognized appraisal principles to determine market value for the water rights.

We work with a variety of engineers and attorneys.

McCarty Land & Water periodically provides consultation services to other appraisers who have encountered complicated water rights issues.