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District Court, Water Division 4, Colorado <br />Case No. 02CW38; Applicarion of Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District <br />Closing Brief of the Colorado River Water Conservation District <br />Page 5 of 11 <br />of the CWCB, nothing in Senate Bill 216 eliminates or reduces in any way, the long established <br />principle that the intent of the appropriator is critically important to determine the measure of a water <br />right. See Sante Fe Trail Ranches Properties Owners Assoc. v. Simpson, 990 P.2d 46, 53, 55 (Colo. <br />1999)(beneficial use is not defined or limited by the Colorado constitution; rather, "what constitutes <br />a beneficial use tracks legislative enactrnents, court decisions, and principally, the acts of <br />apQropriators who control the water for their purpose.") (Emphasis added). The necessity to <br />consider the intent of the appropriator also is firmly embodied within the statutory definition of <br />beneficial use, which in turn expressly incorporates uses for RICD purposes: <br />"Beneficial use" is the use of that amount of water that is reasonable and appropriate <br />under reasonably efficient practices to accomplish without waste the purpose for <br />which the appropriation is lawfully made, and without limiting the generalityofthe <br />foregoing includes the ... diversion of water by [certain municipal and quasi- <br />municipal entities] for recreational in-channel diversion purposes. <br />C.R.S. §37-92-103(4). (Emphasis added). <br />In addition, the statutory definition of a RICD expressly incorporates the intent of the <br />appropriator in determining the measure of the water right. The statute defines a RICD to mean: <br />The minimum stream flow as it is diverted, captured, controlled and placed to <br />beneficial use between specific points defined by physical control structures pursuant <br />to an application filed by [certain municipal and quasi-municipal entities] for a <br />reasonable recreation experience in and on the water. <br />C.R.S. §37-92-103(10.3) (Emphasis added). <br />The intended purpose of the appropriator is therefore a key factor in determining the <br />appropriate flow rate of a RICD, just as the intent of the appropriator is important for determining