17152 Highway 142, San Luis, CO 81152 - Costilla County

Water Rights~River frontage~Year-round access~No Covenants~No HOA!

97 water shares from the San Luis Peoples Ditch! This property consists of 2 farms! One farm already has a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch house with several outbuildings. The second farm has room to build an additional home if desired.

Land

Situated in south-central Colorado, not far from the New Mexico border, you are offered a rare opportunity to own a heritage quality one-of-a-kind 128+/- acre Farm/Ranch in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, the world’s highest Alpine Valley.

Improvements

Improvements included with this farm are a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home, several outbuildings including loafing sheds, hay storage, and chicken coop. The property is fenced and cross-fenced.

Recreation

GMU 83 OVER THE COUNTER LICENSES:

Cow Elk Archery

Either Sex Archery

Bull Rifle (2nd or 3rd Rifle Season)

Fall Turkey

Bear Concurrent Rifle (you would also need to have an Elk or Deer license that must match one unit listed on your bear license.)

Agriculture

This is a great combination of farm and ranch property and has historically been utilized for irrigated grazing and hay production ground with a small portion of dryland grass.

The property includes about 30 acres of grass/alfalfa, green sub-irrigated meadows to the south that can handle about 50+ head of mother cows on a typical year, and a few acres of dry grazing land. Flood irrigation is also utilized on a good portion of the farm. This property is 100% usable. All but 2.5 acres of property, where the building improvements are located, can be under grass/alfalfa!

Water/Mineral Rights & Natural Resources

This property is well watered, with Colorado’s #1 Senior Water Rights off of the San Luis People’s Ditch, 97 shares total, and is a gravity-fed irrigation system (acequias)in one of the oldest communities in Colorado. Serving the village of San Luis de la Culebra before Colorado was a Territory. These water rights are the first and most senior water rights to be given in the entire state of Colorado! Each share is dated April 10, 1852. The pioneer settlers of Colorado originally dug the Peoples ditch.

More History on these historical water rights:

The San Luis Peoples’ Ditch is the oldest irrigation ditch in Colorado in continuous operation. It is representative of organized irrigation efforts initiated by the Spanish in the Southwest.

The ditch is located outside the town of San Luis in southern Colorado at an elevation of 8,000. Culebra Creek, originating from high in the mountains to the south and east of town, furnishes an adequate supply of water to the canal. Today, the San Luis Peoples’ Ditch is about 4 miles long and used to water approximately 1,600 acres of livestock feed (such as alfalfa) and garden plots.

A new steel and concrete diversion and headgate structure was added in 1969 to replace the original headgates.

Spanish-American settlers from New Mexico founded San Luis in 1851. The ditch is said to have been laid out in 1851 or 1852 by digging a small trench with a shovel and letting the water follow. A wooden plow was then used to enlarge the trench to a size sufficient for carrying water to the fields nearby. Land along the ditch was divided into narrow strips so that each land owner would have an irrigated field and land for grazing and timber. Each settler was to receive a strip of land 100 varas wide adjoining the ditch.1 An additional strip of 100 varas was added for each family member. The narrow strips were originally 16 to 20 miles long and ran north and south across the valley. In 1890, the District Court of Costilla County awarded the San Luis Peoples’ Ditch priority number one in water district 24 of water division 3. The allotment of 23 cubic feet per second for irrigation of 900 acres was dated April 10, 1952.

Region & Climate

Climate in San Luis, Colorado

San Luis, Colorado gets 10 inches of rain, on average, per year. The US average is 38 inches of rain per year.

San Luis averages 41 inches of snow per year. The US average is 28 inches of snow per year.

On average, there are 280 sunny days per year in San Luis. The US average is 205 sunny days.

San Luis gets some kind of precipitation, on average, 60 days per year. Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground. In order for precipitation to be counted you have to get at least .01 inches on the ground to measure.

Weather Highlights

Summer High: the July high is around 82 degrees

Winter Low: the January low is 5

Rain: averages 10 inches of rain a year

Snow: averages 41 inches of snow a year

History

San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado, was established on April 5, 1851. Once a part of four Spanish land grants decreed by the King of Spain, the town’s adobe architecture and its classic Spanish town layout retain the texture of the historical and cultural influences which shaped the early communities of southern Colorado. The surrounding area is mainly a farming and agriculture area.

Hispanic settlers from the Taos Valley established several small villages along the Rio Culebra in the San Luis Valley and officially took possession of this portion of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant on April 5, 1851.

Location

San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado, was established on April 5, 1851.

Taos 1 hour

Angel Fire 1.5 hours

Interstate 25 1 hour

The Culebra River borders the south end of the property which offers a great for good Brown fishing. The river and this property are both pretty and functional! The mountains in the distance are beautiful! I recommend seeing the sunrise over the mountains from the ranch. Outstanding views in all directions!

The property was once a part of the Spanish Land Grant and because of this, owners of this property have access rights to the Cielo Vista/Taylor mountain area which consists of about a 2000 acre working ranch for timber/lumber, and firewood gathering.