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WATEE ""IGHTS Colorado -Water Laws Colorado water law is based on the premise that he who is first in time is first in right to the beneficial use of water. Anyone using water from a stream is an appropriator. After the water is being put to beneficial use6 the appropriator may obtain from the State District Court having jurisdiction a final decree to use of the water, thus securinf: his right to such use. In order to protect a potential appropriator, after he has started constructing the facility re- quired to put water to beneficial use until the water is in use and a final d~cree granted. the law provides that the courts may grant a conditional decree which sets the priority number of his water right. Having been granted a conditional decree, an appropriator must show due diligence toward constructing the works required to put the water to beneficial use or his claim may be contested and nullified. A 1911 law required that claimants to water file their claims with the State Engineer> but a later law provides for conditional decrees being ~ranted without this filing having been made. The filing, however, is ,,-aluable in that it becomes prima-facie evidence of the claim for water and is helpful in obtaining a conditional decree. establis"ling a date upon which to base the claim IS priority. The priority, designated by number J is used by the State Engineer to administer the water. As streams reduce in the amount of flow during the summer, the appropriators with high priority numbers (junior appropriators) are prohibited from diverting so that appro- priators with lower priority numbers (senior appropriators) may have water in the full amount of their decrees ifneeded. Also. an appropriator may be prohibited frorn diverting the full amount of his decree if he fail$ to put all the water to beneficial use. 21('9 (' Water rights may be sold in Colorado. The purpose for which the water is used and where it is used may be changed. However, the point of diversion may be changed only by court proceedings and such changes are usually hotly contested and difficult to accomplish. Water may be freely exchanged in Colorado as Ions as such ex- change is not harmful to other appropriators. By exchange is meant replacing water in a stream at a lower elevation so that a like amount may be diverted at a higher elevation by the appro- priator effecting the exchange. Status of Project "Water Eights Filings claiming the water for the Sweetwater Hydroelectric Pro- ject have been made and accepted by the State Engineer. The filing consists of eight tracings showing the project plan, hydraulic de- sign, estimate of cost, property ownership, land ties, and loca- tion of project water claims. They contain a statement claiming water in exact amounts at each point of diversion. The next legal step is to obtain a conditional decree. South Forko! the White l~iver Basin: Decrees, conditional decrees, and filings of record on the South Fork of the White River have been reviewed on the basis of annual water require Dents. This check reveals that all decrees likely to become effective can be fully satisfied by water entering the South Fork of the #hite River below the project diversion points. There are filings on Buck Creek and Vv'agonwheel Creek for which the owner has not yet asked for a conditional decree. rhese filings are for only 22 cubic feet per second and would not be of major significance to the Sweetwater Project. Nonetheless. they would represent a small loss in potential revenue and the Rocky Mountain Power Company should take the necessary steps to obtain a senior 11