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Colorado's oldest water rights date from the mid- 1800s. By the l890s, most stream systems in Colorado were over-appropriated, meaning that the amount of water claimed was greater than the amount of water actually available. This means. that junior water users do not always get their full claims. It also means that the rivers themselves can be left with little or no water , because nothing in Colorado law prevents water us~rs Cache la Poudre The Cache la Poudre begins in Rocky Mountain National Park and its upper stretches are Colorado's only federally designated Wild and Scenic River, While no new dams or diversions can be built in these protected segments, the Poudre is subject to extensive diversions downstream, For over 100 years, water users have intensively managed the Poudre for importing, storing and conveying water, It provides domestic and agricultural water for a large area of northern Colorado, Downstream of the federally designated wild and scenic and recreation segments, the Poudre has no . minimum stream flow requirements and senior water rights exceed the flows in the river at - from diverting the entire flow of a stream to satisfy their rights. In other words, o.'sers can withdraw water until the river has nothing lef-t to give. And, even' in over-appropriated rivers, Colorado's system continues to allow new water rights to be claimed. Given the magnitude of demands for water, ensuring that it is used as efficiently as possible is critical. Unfortunately, this vital goal is undermined by another aspect of Colorado's water law system: the "use it or lose it" principle. If a senior water user does not consistently use all of his/her water right, that user can risk losing part or all of the right. This creates a powerful disincentive for conservation. The Cache la Poudre adjacent to the Watson Lake Fish hatchery. certain times of the year. By the time the Poudre reaches the Watson Lake Fish Hatchery near Laporte, flows have been substantially reduced by municipal diversions for the cities of Fort Collins and Greeley and agricultural diversions. Approx- imately 10 to 20% of the year the entire flow of the Poudre drops below 4 cfs and must be . diverted into Watson Lake and then into the fish unit, leaving the river dry for a quarter mile before return flows from the hatchery put water back in the river. Downstream of the hatchery, diversions leave the Poudre without water through the city of Fort Collins for about two miles from west of Shields Street to east of College Avenue.