Colorado State Water Plan 1974 ‎(Phase II)‎

• Year: 1974
• Title: Colorado State Water Plan
• CWCB Section: Agency-wide
• Publications - Doc Type: Historical

State Water Laws, Policies, and Administration
The concept of beneficial use not only prescribes the types of uses for which
water may be diverted, but also is the basis for determining or measuring the
water right. No one may divert more water than he reasonably needs for his
intended beneficial use. This amount may vary, of course, depending on the
nature, place, and time of use, and different duties of water may be established
for different water rights depending on the circumstances of each case.
Both direct flow rights to divert for immediate use and storage rights to
divert and store for future use are recognized. Direct flow rights are measured
in terms of rate of flow in cubic feet per second. A direct flow water right is a
right to a certain rate of flow, usually determined by the capacity of the ditch or
canal, for such periods of time as may reasonably be necessary to fulfill the
appropriator's announced purpose at the time he makes his appropriation. In
contrast, storage rights are quantified and measured by the capacity of the
storage reservoir in acre-feet of water. A water right to store water entitles
its owner to fill his reservoir to its adjudicated capacity once each year unless
there is free water in the stream not demanded by other appropriators. A
reservoir may secure decrees permitting more than one filling under some
conditions, but such decrees must take their proper place in the priority schedules.
In addition to prescribing the types of use and amounts of water that may
reasonably be diverted for each type, the beneficial use concept also imposes
requirements of efficiency and conservation on water appropriators. Statute law
defines beneficial use as use of "that amount of water that is reasonable and
appropriate under reasonably efficient practices to accomplish without waste
the purpose for which the diversion is lawfully made. " An appropriator may not
direct, transport, and use more water than he actually needs. He must convey
diverted water in a ditch or canal or store water in a reservoir without an
unreasonable loss through seepage or evaporation. Supervision of diversion and
conveyance practices is vested in the State Engineer and division engineers.
Appropriators are required to have a reasonable means of diversion. An
appropriator may not command the whole flow of the stream merely to facilitate
his taking the fraction of the whole flow to which he is entitled.
An appropriative right may not be enlarged or extended beyond the amount
beneficially needed and used for the original undertaking for which priority was
awarded. That is, a priority for a water right will be enforced as against junior
appropriators only to supply that amount of water to the senior priority holder which
he has historically needed and used.
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