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4 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I In the Yampa River Basin, the largest volume of water is consumed for irrigation of crops, hay, and pasture. Most irrigated lands are located along streams and rivers, which divert and deliver water via irrigation canals and ditches. Most water is diverted for irrigation between May and October, with the peak demand typically in July. Return flows to the river are significant. Municipalities and industrial users (primarily thermal-electric plants) are the next largest water consumers. In general, return flows from municipal users are high, while electric generation consumes all of the water it diverts. Total water consumption in the Yampa River Basin is approximately 8 percent of the basin yield in wet years and 12 to 18 percent in dry years. 2.1.2. Water Rights and Administration The Colorado River Compact of 1922 apportioned the waters of the Colorado River Basin for use between the upper and lower basin states. The Upper Colorado River Basin Compact of 1948 has further apportioned the upper basin allocation (among the states of Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico). This compact further apportions the yield of the Yampa River Basin between Colorado and Utah, stipulating that the Yampa River at the Maybell gage will not have a composite discharge of less than 5 maf for any period of 10 consecutive years. To date, the average annual yield of the river at Maybell is 1.13 maf, with a minimum 1 O-year yield of 9.1 maf. Colorado water law, based on the prior appropriations doctrine, limits diversions from the river under a priority system when water supplies are insufficient to meet all water needs. Under this doctrine, an individual, corporation, or government agency can file for a water right to divert or store a certain flow or volume of water for a given project such as an irrigation ditch or reservoir. Water rights are granted with a "priority" date based on the time of filing. Water rights with earlier priority dates are "senior" to rights with later priority dates. In most cases, water rights are granted only if water is taken from the stream and applied to some "beneficial" use. Conditional water rights may be granted for future water development. Their priority date is based on the date of filing, rather than the date water is first applied to some beneficial use, provided that the applicant shows due diligence in pursuing its development of the right. Conditional water rights are not granted for speculative purposes. Until recently, Colorado law did not recognize water left in the stream for aquatic life as a beneficial use. However, Colorado adopted an instream flow statute in 1973 that allows the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) to apply for and hold water rights for this purpose. Only the State of Colorado may hold such an instream flow water right. The Yampa River Basin is relatively undeveloped in terms of potential water consumption. Only about 10 percent of the average annual flow at the Maybell gage is depleted, mostly by direct diversions for irrigation. Nevertheless, the Yampa River is considered over-appropriated by virtue of large, conditional water rights. The largest of these, more than 800,000 AF, is for the Juniper-Cross Mountain Project. However, compact limitations, among other considerations, likely preclude full development of this conditional water right. Many perfected water rights have not been fully utilized due to relatively low demand for water in the basin. For this reason also, historically mainstem water rights of the Yampa River have not been administered downstream from the town of Yampa, although local administration occurs regularly on several tributaries.