Early shareholders of the Marshallville Ditch include some well-known names in Boulder: Tim Shanahan (Shanahan Ridge), Albert Viele (Viele Lake), and Margaret Dunn (Dunn-DeBacker house near the Mesa Trail). Other early shareholders included O. C. Coffin, Thomas Barnes, William Grossbeck, Robert Montgomery, Simon McGann, and H. S. McGillvray.
The Company owns an easement for the operation and maintenance of the ditch established over many years. It is not a written easement, but a prescriptive easement, established by use. The easement is 60 feet in width, 30 feet on either side from the centerline of the ditch. This easement allows the Company to run the shareholders’ water and includes the right to enter the easement to operate, maintain, and repair the ditch. The Company requires that width to perform the necessary maintenance, repairs or replacement for the ditch and associated structures. The Company needs to have vehicular access potentially on either side of the ditch so it can perform the necessary functions to continue to deliver irrigation water to its shareholders. If there are encroachments within the easement, the Company may request that they be removed.
A written agreement with the Company must be obtained before a property owner may change the course of the ditch or encroach upon the ditch easement with buildings, fences or other improvements or desire to place a bridge across the ditch or pipes underneath the ditch, or do anything else that would change the historic use. Plans/specifications must be submitted for approval, and written agreements are required. Application and crossing fees will apply for any agreement.
The water belongs to the shareholders of the Company only. This property right was created by the laws of the state of Colorado. The unauthorized taking of this water, such as pumping, is considered theft under Colorado law, per House Bill 01-1250. Both theft of water from the Company and damage to the Company’s ditch and structures is punishable by up to $750 and by imprisonment in the county jail for up to 90 days.
