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Basics of Colorado 1Nater Law Another example of the evolution of the prior appropriation doctrine occurred in 2001, when Colorado legislators adopt- ed astatute that provided cities, counties, and water districts the opportunity to obtain water rights for in-channel recre- ational diversions for rafting and kayak- ing. The water amount allowed. is the min- imum necessary for a reasonable recre- ational experience. The CWCB consults and makes recommendations to the water court regarding these applications. Entities that have obtained recreation- related flow decrees in the past, or are in the process of obtaining them, include Aspen, Breckenridge, Fort Collins, Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, Golden, Littleton, Pueblo, and the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District. Water Waste and Return Flows In Colorado, a water right is a special Efficiency of Water Diversions Colorado water lace requires reasonably efficient methods of diversion. hoi- municipal use, Colorado law favors pipelines as a reasonable means to eom ey water. For agricultural use, unlined irrigation canals and reservoirs of all types - despite the seepage. and evaporation they cause -are also considered: reasonably efficient. The present law adopts such a stance, in part.. because seepage recharges aquifers and su-eams and because evaporation accompanies reasonable methods ofconve:yance and storage. Conjunctive Use One way water rights may be used more efficiently is through conjunctive use. Conjunctive use involves coordinated use of'surface. and groundwater to meet water needs more efficiently. For example, as part of a conjunctive use project, water courts may issue decrees for.. storage of; water in groundwater aquifers: Water managers then= use wells or unlined ponds to transfer surface water into a groundwater aquifer for storage and later extraction and use, or to generate "credits" for out-uf-priority well pumping. kind of property right known as a usufruc- tary right. Usufructary means having the right to use a resource without actually owning it. Ownership of the water resource always remains in the public domain under Colorado law. The saying that a water appropriator must "use it or lose it" reflects only one facet of a usufructary right. This simply means that if you do not need to use all or part of your decreed right, the water goes to those who can use the water beneficial- ly, according to the priority date specified in their water right decrees. Colorado Supreme Court water law decisions state that a water user may not take from the stream any more water than is needed for beneficial use at the time the actual diversion is made, despite the amount allowed on the face of the water right decree. To divert more water than is needed for beneficial use is water waste, and water waste cannot be included with- in the measure of a water right. What defines need for beneficial use? Need is a combination of the amount needed to move water to the place where it will be used, and the amount needed for beneficial consumptive use. For example, agricultural water use can be 20 to 75 percent consumptive, depend- ing on soil type, crop planted, geographic location, or irrigation method. Municipal use varies from 5 percent consumptive dur- ing the winter, to 50 percent consumptive during summer landscape irrigation. Beneficial consumptive use over a rep- resentative historic time period is the measure and limit of a water right. However, it is calculated by volume of acre-feet only when a water right is changed to another type of use, point of diversion, or place of use. Many types of water use produce ground or surface water return flows. Some examples of return flows are water that percolates below the root zone of a crop and into the shallow groundwater, water seeping from unlined earthen ditch- 8 C^ L^ R A D^ F^ U N D A T I ^ N F D R W ATE R E D U C A T I ^ N Crop Consumption Irrigation diversions con take away, then return water to ;r - ,s also receive inl.~uts front natural sources - ~recipit:UTion and ~r,« ~~., . ~anici~f~tal ~lnd ir'tclustrktl c'lisc~h~'~r~~~;.