On September 29, 2026, Beaver Park Water posted a monthly update to its shareholders. It said the company had shut off the lake ahead of forecast rain, because Bear Creek can carry flood water and debris straight into the lower canal. West-side deliveries would pause for a day or two. The company could resume reservoir deliveries after the flood water receded, "however not for long as we are not able to go below 68 on the staff gage at Brush Hollow and we are almost there now."
That note is a good place to start if you're comparing Penrose acreage. A listing that says the property "has water" can mean a domestic tap from the Penrose Water District, irrigation shares in Beaver Park Water, Inc., or both. Each comes with its own rules, costs and paperwork. Both also draw on Brush Hollow Reservoir, which has stored less than its full volume since February 2025.
The tap rule sets what a parcel can become
The first rule to learn deals with the number of taps, not the amount of water. Since December 13, 2021, the Penrose Water District has sold only one tap per nominal 5-acre legally defined property. There are two exceptions. One is the originally platted Town of Penrose, with its smaller lots. The other is any subdivision under 5 acres that bought a tap, availability letter or availability contract and was approved before that date.
The District also requires a separate meter for every structure certified for occupancy. It calls serving two dwellings from one meter a direct violation of policy that could get the meter disconnected. Fremont County allows accessory dwelling units, so this is a common question on acreage. Say you buy 5 acres with one house and plan to add a guest cabin or a home for a parent. The District's notice says you can't run the second dwelling off the existing tap, and you likely can't buy a second tap for that parcel. The notice mentions a well for one or both dwellings as an option. If the property has a District tap, though, the District may inspect the connections to confirm the two dwellings aren't linked.
A new tap also costs real money. The District's schedule, effective January 1, 2026, sets these connection fees:
- 3/4-inch, 1.0 ERU: $21,000
- 1-inch, 1.7777 ERU: $37,300
- 1 1/2-inch, 4.0 ERU: $84,000
- 2-inch, 7.1111 ERU: $149,300
- 3-inch and larger: set at application, if the Board of Directors approves
The fee schedule doesn't promise that a tap is available for a given parcel. The District's public notices we reviewed didn't announce a moratorium or a waiting list either way. Ask the District directly, in writing, before you count on a new tap.
That rule also changes how you should compare listings. A bare 5-acre parcel with an existing tap and a bare 5-acre parcel next door without one aren't the same product. The difference is at least $21,000 plus the uncertainty of the application. You can see the parcel-by-parcel detail in public records. A 2025 Fremont County minor subdivision packet listed one proposed lot with a Penrose Water District tap and water service agreement contract, and the other lot only with the District as its water source.
Watering with tap water gets expensive fast
The District's 2026 base charge for a 3/4-inch meter is $56 a month, which includes 2,000 gallons. Every 1,000 gallons over that, or portion of 1,000, costs $6.40.
That allowance covers household use well and covers outdoor use poorly. A month with 10,000 gallons through a 3/4-inch meter puts 8,000 gallons over the base, which adds $51.20 to the $56 charge. Every extra garden bed, fruit tree row or patch of pasture on District water raises the bill again. On a pricing structure like that, the second water source decides whether acreage can grow anything.
A Beaver Park share is personal property
Beaver Park Water, Inc. calls itself a mutual, not-for-profit ditch company. The shareholders own the company, and a share entitles its holder to scheduled irrigation delivery at the nearest existing distribution point.
In legal terms, that makes a share a different kind of asset than the land it waters. Colorado law treats shares in a ditch company as personal property, transferable under the company's bylaws. The same statute gives the company a lien on the shares and the water rights they represent for unpaid assessments, and lets it withhold water until those assessments are paid. The Colorado Division of Water Resources says it doesn't keep official records of ownership transfers for water rights or ditch shares. A state database won't show whether the shares changed hands when the land did. The deed won't settle it either. The company's own books settle it.
Beaver Park's published FAQ adds conditions that matter at closing. Transfers happen between landowners under company policy. Lines 2, 6A, 6B, 9 and the Upper Ditch are restricted, so shares moving onto them have to come from the same line unless the Board approves an exception. The FAQ also says completed transfer forms are due to the superintendent by April 1, and transfers within one owner's holdings happen in full-year increments. That FAQ dates to 2008, so treat these as policies to confirm with the company, not current terms. We found no public figure for what a share sells for or what this year's assessment is. The FAQ describes the price as a deal between landowners.
The physical delivery side has its own detail. In comments on that same 2025 county subdivision, Beaver Park noted that an underground irrigation pipe served both proposed lots. The landowner, not the company, is responsible for the pipe past the concrete box at 6th Street.
Brush Hollow Reservoir backs both systems
Here the domestic tap and the irrigation share stop being separate. In February 2025, the State Engineer's Office put a 3-vertical-foot storage restriction on Brush Hollow Dam. That cut allowable storage by 504 acre-feet. The office also said that if Beaver Park took no action, it would impose a second 3-foot restriction, removing another 442 acre-feet. The fix has to start with seepage around the dam. Lifting the restriction depends on getting that seepage under control.
Beaver Park's grant application says the lost storage is badly needed for shareholder irrigation and for the Penrose Water District's municipal supply. Under a mutual storage-sharing contract, the loss affects both in proportion. The two entities share up to 500 acre-feet of Brush Hollow storage, passed back and forth on an if-and-when basis. In other words, a parcel with only a District tap still depends on the same dam as the neighbor whose irrigation water comes out of it.
For scale, Beaver Park holds a storage right of 4,285.12 acre-feet. The reservoir's spill capacity was listed at 3,933 acre-feet in 1997, before any safety restriction. The current 504-acre-foot restriction removes roughly 12.8% of that 1997 capacity.
The repair has started on paper. The Colorado Water Conservation Board's July 2026 Water Plan Grant listing shows Beaver Park's Brush Hollow Reservoir Dam Improvements and Enlargement application as approved. The application covers only the engineering and design phase. It requests $101,850 toward a $135,800 total, with $29,640 from Beaver Park and $4,310 from the Penrose Water District. Design is scheduled to start January 1, 2027. A construction phase would come later, based on the cost estimates from design. The project aims to stop the seepage, then raise the spillway crest 18 inches to add 250 acre-feet, which roughly recovers capacity lost to sediment. Beaver Park's September update thanked its engineer, Steve Kastner, for his work on the project. No construction budget or schedule is public yet. A buyer closing this fall will own the parcel through at least the 2027 irrigation season with the restriction still in effect.
You can see the effect in this season's updates. Beaver Park's August 2026 update said there was initially only one shared head of water, and it urged shareholders to take water when offered. By late September, the reservoir was near the 68-foot gauge mark. On the domestic side, the District moved to Phase 1 voluntary conservation in April 2026. Its Board said it would monitor conditions to decide whether mandatory measures were needed. In May, District president Charlotte Norman described the approach to Fremont County commissioners, as reported by the Cañon City Daily Record:
"Our approach is ask, tell, require."
She said the area was temporarily out of drought at the time and warned that it may not last. The District has also planned a new treatment plant, which was still in design, financing and permitting as of its September 2026 agenda. That agenda gave no final price for the plant.
What to get in writing before you close
- From the Penrose Water District: whether the parcel has an existing tap, its meter size and ERUs, the water service agreement, the account balance, and any service-line or main-extension costs. On a parcel without a tap, ask in writing whether a new tap is available under the one-per-5-acre rule.
- On any second dwelling: the District's position on how it can be served, and whether a well would be inspected for interconnection.
- From Beaver Park Water: the share count on the company's books, the certificate, whether the company will accept the transfer, which delivery line serves the parcel, and any unpaid assessments that could become a lien.
- On the ground: which pipe or ditch carries water to the parcel and who maintains each section of it.
- On timing: whether the transfer paperwork deadline, historically April 1, falls before or after your closing date.
None of this is legal advice. A water attorney or your title company can tell you how to document a share transfer in your contract.
Frequently asked questions
Do Beaver Park shares automatically go with the land? State law treats them as personal property transferred under company bylaws, and the state doesn't track the transfers. Confirm with the company that the shares will move and on which line.
Can I split a 10-acre Penrose parcel and get a tap for each half? District policy since December 13, 2021, sells one tap per nominal 5-acre legally defined property, so each tap application gets reviewed on its own. Get the District's answer for your specific parcel before relying on a split.
Is the Brush Hollow restriction permanent? The grant-funded design phase is meant to lead to removing it. Design starts January 1, 2027, and the construction cost and schedule haven't been published.
At Gold District Realty, we treat a Penrose parcel's tap status, ditch shares and delivery line as part of the property. If you're selling acreage on Beaver Park water, or deciding which Penrose parcel makes sense to buy, start with an instant property valuation and we'll help you gather the water paperwork in writing before any buyer asks for it.
