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<br />Maior Physical, Legal, and Institutional Characteristics <br /> <br />;t) <br /> <br />I. ": <br />~'. r <br /> <br />1. laws and I nstitutions of Each State <br /> <br />:.::~ <br />,- <br />.' <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />Colorado. The administration and regulation of water rights in Colorado <br />rest primarily on two foundation stones. The oldest of these is the Colorado <br />Doctrine, the state's version of the prior-appropriation doctrine, that evolved <br />through custom and practice. The Water Right Determination and <br />Administration Act of 1969 puts the doctrine into current practice. It divides <br />Colorado into seven water divisions, conforming roughly to the state's major <br />drainage systems. The State Engineer, with approval of the executive <br />director of the Department of Natural Resources, appoints one Division <br />Engineer to each of the seven divisions. Division Engineers are required to <br />assist in the performance of the State Engineer's duties including all <br />functions specified by statute and judicial law. In general, the State <br />Engineer is responsible for "the administration and distribution of the state's <br />waters, the promulgation of rules and regulations to assist in such <br />administration, the collection and study of data on water supplies, the <br />compliance with compact commitments and administration between states, <br />and the enforcement oflaws imposed by statute and the courts" (Grantham <br />1991). Division field offices are created and staffed by Water Commissioners <br />that serve the districts within each division. Whereas the Division Engineer <br />is responsible for the daily administration of waters within a division, Water <br />Commissioners oversee the administration of water rights and the collection <br />and recording offield data. Each division also has an appointed water judge <br />who is responsible for the resolution of disputes regarding water rights. <br /> <br />.:-- <br /> <br />~;.:~ <br />~;~ <br /> <br />;'~ <br /> <br />The appropriation of water in Colorado consists of two acts: the diversion of <br />water from the natural stream and the application of that water to beneficial <br />use (Farmers' Hi!rh Line Canal & Reservoir Co. v. Southworth, 13 Colo. <br />111, 21 P. 1028 (1889)). The statutes define appropriation as the application <br />of a specified portion of the waters of the state to beneficial use (37-92-103 (3) <br />(a) C.R.S. 1990) (Jennifer Gimbel and Gale Norton, comment on draft <br />report). <br /> <br />Beneficial use is described in the 1969 legislation as "that amount of water <br />that is reasonable and appropriate under reasonably efficient practices to <br />accomplish without waste the purpose for which the appropriation is lawfully <br />made and includes the impoundment of water for recreational purposes, <br />including fishery and wildlife" (37-92-103 (7) C.R.S.). For about the past <br />20 years Colorado's water law has recognized instream flows necessary for <br />the preservation of natural environments as a beneficial use. The Colorado <br />Water Conservation Board (CWCB) is the sole entity allowed under law to <br /> <br />I3 <br /> <br />(2893 <br />