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B. Colorado version of prior appropriation doctrine 1. Constitutional right to appropriate The doctrine of prior appropriation is established by the Colo- rado Constitution. Article XVI, sections 5 and 6 provide: 5. Water of streams public property-- The- a11-L- water of every natural stream, not hereto- w'- fore appropriated, within the State of Col- orado, is hereby declared to be the proper- ty of the public, and the same is dedicated to the use of the people of the state, sub- ject to appropriation as hereinafter.pro- vided. 6. Diverting unappropriated water -- pri- ority of preferred uses. The right to di- vert the unappropriated waters of any natu- ral stream to beneficial uses shall never be denied. Priority of appropriation shall give the better right as between those using water for the same purposes; but when the waters of any natural stream are not sufficient for the service of all those de- siring to use of the same, those using the water for domestic purposes shall have the preference over those claiming for any oth- er purpose, and those using the water for agricultural purposes shall have preference over those using the same for manufacturing purposes. a. Scope of constitutional right The constitutional right to appropriate is limited in two re- spects. The first limitation on the right is that it only ap- plies to water of every natural stream. Water of the natural stream includes the surface water and all ground water tributary thereto. Tributary ground water is underground water the with- drawal of which will affect the rate or direction of flow of a surface stream. Neither the Colorado Constitution nor case law precisely defined "affect" in terms of either time period or magnitude.3/ In 1985, the General Assembly enacted Senate bill 5 which, for the first time, defined nontributary ground water: -4-