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[) 1". "'I"'" / ,: .! ~ ~ ,:.1 1: ~ ',,-' <.' ,--, ~ DRAFT occasions, municipalities have obtained water rights covered by irrigation priorities through the use of the power of eminent domain. Extensive reform in water legislation was enacted in the 1969 session of the Colorado General Assembly. This legislation, referred to as S. 81, the Water Right Determination and Administration Act of 1969, provides entirely new procedures for adjudication and adminis- tration of water rights. It abolishes existing water districts and irrigation divisions and substitutes for them seven new water divisions which have roughly the same boundaries and limits as the former irrigation divisions. S. 81 provides for the appointment of a water judge and water clerk for each of the seven water divisions. All water matters shall be handled only by the water judge, assisted by the water clerk. The water judge appoints one or more referees who make original rulings on all requests or he may perform those duties himself if he so desires. The general procedural plan of S. 81 requires a water user who desires a determination or a change of water rights to file an appli- cation with the water clerk of the appropriate division. The appli- cation is referred by the water judge to a referee who makes an initial determination after due notice of the application has been given to other users and after the referee has made such investigations as he may find necessary to determine the truth of the representation made in the application or in the statement of opposition filed by an opponent. This ruling is subject to judicial review by the water judge in a final hearing, it may be confirmed, modified, reversed, or reversed and remanded. The final ruling is embodied in a judgment and a decree -2-