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water right) under section 37-92-103(7). ..." (Appendix Tab B). The CWCB thus <br />acknowledged that Fort Collins survived SB 212, and continues to be good authority for <br />recreational diversions. <br />VIII. RECREATION IS AN ESTABLISHED BENEFICIAL USE OF WATER. <br />Amici take great exception to the State's argument that there is no constitutional right to <br />appropriate water for recreational purposes. (State at 7). This Court has never remotely <br />suggested that water could not be appropriated under the constitution for recreational purposes. <br />The constitutional right to appropriate in Article XVI, § 6 of the Colorado constitution <br />applies to any water that can be appropriated for a beneficial use. The "only indispensabie <br />requirements are that the appropriator intends to use the waters for a beneficial purpose and <br />actually applies them to use." Town of Genoa v. Westfall, 349 P.2d 370, 378 (Colo. 1960). <br />"[W]ater rights are entitled to administration based on their priority, regardless of the type of <br />beneficial use for which the appropriation was made." Empire Lodge Homeowners' Ass'n v. <br />Moyer, 39 P.3d 1139, 1148 (Colo. 2001). As this Court held nearly 120 years ago, "[t]he true <br />test of appropriation of water is the successful application thereof to the beneficial use designed; <br />and the method of... making such application, is immaterial." Thomas v. Guiraud, 6 Colo., <br />530, 533 (1883). <br />Beneficial use, in turn, is a flexible concept, that has unquestionably evolved to include <br />recreation uses. As explained in the Santa Fe Trail Ranches decision, "what constitutes a <br />beneficial use tracks legislative enactments, court decisions, and, principally, the acts of <br />appropriators who control the water for their purpose." Santa Fe Ranches, 990 P.2d at 53, n.9. <br />"[B]eneficial use is a broad concept and ... characterization of a use as beneficial requires case <br />Tm 1650 16