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Basics of Colorado Water Law es, or discharges from wastewater treat- ment plants, among other sources. Return flows are important for satisfying down- stream water rights, providing instream flows, and delivering water for interstate compacts (see Interstate Compacts, p. 22). Many water rights depend on surface and subsurface return flows. Under Colorado case law, return flows are not wasted or abandoned water. Junior water users cannot intercept return flows upon which senior water rights depend, unless they replace them with another water sup- ply of suitable quantity and quality for the historic use of the senior rights. This is because decreed water rights are entitled to maintenance of the same stream condi- tions that existed at the time the appropri- ation began. However, if the water is imported into a river basin via an entirely different source, that water can be used and reused to extinction. Over-Appropriation ~ ~~~atershed or stream segment is considered over-appropriated if the water court has approved more water rights decrees on that stream than there is water actually available. Water avail- ability is determined by physical and legal constraints. Physical constraints refer to the water supply available from natural stream flows and tributary aquifers. Legal constraints refer to the amount of water already appropriated by senior water rights within Colorado, and the water Colorado must allow to flow downstream and out of the state to fulfill interstate water compacts or U.S. Supreme Court equitable apportionment decrees (see Interstate Compacts, p.22). By the late 1960s, if not before, it became apparent that the South Platte, Rio Grande, and Arkansas Rivers within Colorado were reaching over-appropriated status. This spurred increased use of groundwater, conservation, reuse of imported water, change of agricultural rights to municipal use, water exchanges, Abandonment of Water Rights Prior appropriation water rights are presumed abandoned if they are not exer- cised during a 10-year period. All or a part of a water right can be declared aban- doned through a water court process. The State Engineer compiles a periodic ranking list for decreed water right priorities and an abandonment list. and augmentation plans (see Augmentation Plans, Change of Water Rights, and Exchanges, p.15, 16). Provisions of the 1969 Water Right Determination and Administration Act address court approval of water exchanges, changes of water rights, and augmentation plans. These provisions allow newer uses of water, such as munic- ipal, environmental, and recreational uses, to come into being and operate even though a basin is over-appropriated. This occurs only because water court decrees for new or changed uses contain provi- sions to protect against injury to other water rights. Consumptive Use -The amount of water used up by application to beneficial use. Examples include: water for drinking, water taken up by growing crops. Return Flow -Water that returns to streams and rivers after it has been applied to beneficial use. It may return as a surface flow, or as an inflow of tributary groundwater. Developed or Imported Water -Water brought into a stream system from another unconnected source, for example, transmountain surface water or nontributary well water. This type of water can be reused to extinction, or used in augmentation or exchange plans. C I T I Z E N S G U I D E T^ C^ L^ R A D^ W ATE R LAW 9 During 2002, rivers across Colorado experienced record low /lows, indudin,~ Cochetopa Creek (above) near Gunnison. Tree rir>,~ data suggests that the spring and summer of 2002 may have been the driest in more than 300 years.