9476 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

History of Colorado 1Nater Law: Adaptation ~t Change fountains crucial to native peoples for water supply and worship. Here in Colorado, paleohydrologists have discovered that mounded areas at Mesa Verde National Park -once thought to be dance platforms -were actually reservoirs positioned to intercept runoff. Survival in this arid region necessitated the construction of these prehistoric water works. Hispanic peoples from northern New Mexico who first settled in Colorado's San Luis Valley brought with them the tradi- tion of community irrigation ditches, known as acequias (pronounced ah sek e ahs). More than 400 acequias operated in New Mexico by the 1800s. Today in Colorado, the oldest continuous water right is the 1852 People's Ditch of San Luis, diverting water from Culebra Creek in Costilla County. Colorado's Early Territorial and State Law In 1861, when Congress created the Colorado Territory, Colorado's settlement and growth depended on the ability of its citizens and businesses to obtain proper- ty rights to federal territorial lands. Accordingly, the first territorial legisla- ture enacted land and water laws taking the broadest possible approach towards settler's rights. Yunher v. Nichols was the Territorial Supreme Court's first major water law decision. The court held that water could be diverted from the stream, and ditches built across public and private land to convey water to its place of beneficial use. Chief Justice Moses Hallett proclaimed that, "In a dry and thirsty land it is neces- sary to divert the waters of the streams from their natural channels." Justice Wells added that Colorado water law is based on "the force of necessity arising from local peculiarities of climate." The court decided that Colorado law broke away entirely from the water law framework followed in many other areas of the country, known as the Riparian Doctrine. Under riparian law, those with land next to the stream have a water right for that stream. However, in Colorado, just because you own land next to the stream, does not necessarily mean you have the right to use its water. Federal law also made public land and water available for private use. In 1862, Congress adopted the Homestead Act. It followed with the 1866 Mining Act and subsequent federal statutes that allowed settlers to build ditches and reservoirs and divert water on public lands. Congress did not enact a federal water law. Instead, it allowed the territories and states to cre- ate their own water law by statutes and court decisions. Over time, these founding legal princi- pleshave evolved into a framework of water law known as the Colorado Doctrine. This ar~:~rial view shows the rc~~stvred FYarview Reservoir (above) in Mesa Verde National Pnrk. Formerly known as "Mummy Lake" and thol.rglrt. to be an ancient dance pavilion, recent research has shown it was actually an impor- tant water storage facility for the native Pueblo people dating from AD 9.50-I 180. Before the structure was restorerl, cowboys (at le ft, ca 1915) used to wher horses there while riding on Chapin Mesa. The Colorado Doctrine The Colorado Doctrine is a set of laws regarding water use and land ownership, adopted by the people of Colorado start- ing in the 1860s. It defines four essential principles of Colorado water law: 1) All surface and groundwater in Colorado is a public resource for ben- eficial use by public agencies and pri- vate persons; 2) A water right is a right to use a portion of the public's water resources; 3) Water rights owners may build facili- ties on the lands of others to divert, extract, or move water from a stream or aquifer to its place of use; and, 4) Water rights owners may use streams and aquifers for the transportation and storage of water. C I T I Z E N S G U I D E T^ C^ L^ R A D^ W A T E R LAW 5