9476

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9476
• Author: Colorado Foundation for Water Education.
• Title: Citizen's Guide to Colorado Water Law.
• USFW Year: 2003.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

Glossary
Diligence Reasonable progress towards
making a conditional water right
absolute by putting unappropriated
water to a beneticial use. Must be
proved in a water court proceeding
through an application initiated every
six-years after entry of the conditional
decree or most recent diligence decree.
Acts demonstrating diligence include
engineering, permitting, financing, and
construction of water facilities needed
to complete water diversion and deliv-
ery to the place of use.
Diversion or Divert Removing water from
its natural course or location, or con-
trolling water in its natural course or
location, by means of a water structure
such as a ditch, pipeline, pump, reser-
voir, or well. The Colorado Water
Conservation Board may appropriate
instream flows without diversion, and
local governmental agencies may make
recr:~ational in-channel diversions,
under sl-ecified statutory procedures.
Futile Call Determination made by the
State or Division Engineer to lift a shut
down order if cessation of diversions
by junior decreed water rights will not
result in making water available to the
senior calling right.
Injury The action of another that causes
or may cause the holders of decreed
water rights to suffer loss of water at
the time, place, and amount they
would be entitled to use under their
water rights if the action had not
occurred. Injury is a significant issue in
any water court proceeding and in
determinations of the State and
Division Engineers.
Nontributary Groundwater Groundwater
outside of the boundaries of any desig-
nated groundwater basin, the withdraw-
al of which will not, within one hundred
years, deplete the flow of a natural
stream at an annual rate greater than
one-tenth of one percent of the annual
rate of withdrawal.
Not Nontributary Groundwater Denver
Basin groundwater, the withdrawal of
which will deplete the flow of a natural
stream at an annual rate of greater than
one-tenth of one percent of the annual
rate of withdra~~~al.
Pilot Water Banh A pilot program operat-
ing under rules of the State Engineer in
the Arkansas River Basin to facilitate
the lease, exchange, or loan of legally
stored water as an alternative to sale of
water rights, while protecting against
injury to other water rights.
Priority The ranking of a water right vis-
a-vis all other water rights drawing on
the stream system. Priority is deter-
mined by the year in which the appli-
cation for the water right was filed.
The date the appropriation was initiat-
ed determines the relative priority of
water rights for which the applications
were filed in the same year. Priority is
the most valuable aspect of a water
right because priorities determine who
may divert and use water in time of
short water supply.
Public Trust Doctrine A doctrine of state
ownership of stream and lake beds that
has been applied, most notably in
California, to cut back on historic
diversions to sustain fish and wildlife
habitat and recreation. Has not been
recognized in Colorado, although the
Colorado Supreme Court has ruled
that the Colorado Water Conservation
Board has a fiduciary duty to the peo-
ple of Colorado to enforce the instream
flow water rights it obtains.
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 trib-
utary groundwater.
Riparian Referring to land or habitat
immediately adjacent to the
stream channel.
Riparian Wa[er Law A legal system that
permits water use only by those who
own land along the banks of a stream
or lake. The right is for reasonable use
and is correlative with the right of
every other property owner to prohib-
it unreasonable use that diminishes the
instream quantity or quality of water.
Colorado law does not recognize ripar-
ian rights.
Statute A law enacted by a legislative
body such as the U.S. Congress or the
Colorado General Assembly.
Substitute Supply Plan A State Engineer-
approved temporary plan of replace-
ment supply allowing an out-of-priori-
ty diversion while a plan for augmen-
tation is proceeding through the water
court. The State Engineer may also
approve substitute supply plans for
water exchanges, water uses that will
not exceed 5 years, and limited emer-
gency situations affecting public health
or safety.
Tributary Groundwater All subsurface
water hydraulically connected to a
surface stream, the pumping of
which would have a measurable
effect on the surface stream within
one hundred years.
Water Right A property right to the use of
a portion of the public's surface or trib-
utary groundwater resource obtained
under applicable legal procedures.
Well Any structure or device used for the
purpose or with the effect of obtaining
groundwater for beneficial use from an
aquifer. Every well requires a State
Engineer-issued permit.
3 2 C^ L^ R A D^ F O U N D A T I O N F O R W A T E R E D U C A T I ^ N