Citizen's Guide to Colorado's Environmental Era

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One of the few cases where municipali- ties chose to regulate land use related to their drinking water supplies. As early as the late 19th century, state law allowed municipalities to regulate land uses in the watersheds where they had water supply reservoirs, even when those watersheds were far away from the municipalities themselves. It has long been understood that clean, safe, domestic water supplies are an important public good, and they needed to be safeguarded against impacts from mining, agriculture and other uses. The statute has been used with varying degrees of success over the years to pre- vent, limit or modify intensive develop- ment proposed for these watersheds. The 20th Century: the Regulatory Era By the early 20th century, urbanization and the varied interests of property owners highlighted the inadequacy of these old, often - uncodifed laws based on custom and precedent and pressed the need for new legislation. In the late 1930s, zoning regu- lations were first established. Colorado was one of a number of states that adopted the Standard Zoning Enabling Act. Zoning laws placed compatible land uses in districts, and also designated districts for specific types of land uses. Zoning laws primarily regulated uses of land based on impacts to the immediate area. This approach was fine when impacts were localized, but inad- equate in situations which the impacts had more far - reaching implications. Soon came subdivisions, and the divi- sion of land into ever - smaller units was creating negative impacts. Increased con- centrations of people, traffic, and ser- vices —much of which was developing outside city boundaries — indicated that some restrictions were needed. In addi- tion, much of this growth was supplied by concentrated numbers of individual wells which in some cases started mining (with- drawing water faster than the recharge rate) local aquifers, and robbing water from nearby streams. Colorado's first general law authoriz- ing subdivision regulation was adopted in 1972. The law addressed a number of concerns about the impacts of subdivi- sion of land, including mandates to local jurisdictions to manage traffic impacts, the park and recreational needs of future residents and visitors, as well as the water needs of the future owners and users of these lands. A developer seeking subdivision approv- al was required to show that water quantity and quality would be adequate for future residents. One of the more interesting ques- tions that arose under this requirement was whether residential subdivisions could be approved with a limited underground water provided will be adequate for future residents. aquifer serving as the main water supply. When El Paso County adopted a 300 -year water sufficiency standard for subdivisions seeking to provide water service via such an aquifer, the Court of Appeals found that the regulation was "... designed to insure that no development take place where there (is) not adequate water supplies for the future." The court also found that the government's interest in ensuring such supplies was valid, and clearly authorized by the state subdivi- sion law. Unique Colorado Environmental Laws Affecting Water Resources Colorado has always been a "local control" state meaning that regulations and enforcement are entrusted at the level of government closest to the citizens that can get the job done —often at the city or county level. The Colorado Land Use Act (LUC) adopted in 1970, established a State Land C I T I Z E N 'S G U I D E TO T H E 25