Colorado State Water Plan 1974 (Phase II)

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State Water Laws, Policies, and Administration Tributary Ground Water Tributary ground water includes what is sometimes called seepage, under- flow, or percolating water, if that water would eventually become a part of a natural stream. A natural stream's waters include water "in the unconsolidated alluvial aquifer of sand, gravel, and other sedimentary materials, and all other waters hydraulically connected thereto which can influence the rate or direction of movement of the water in that alluvial aquifer or natural stream. " Tributary ground water is subject to the 1969 Water Right Determination and Administration Act. This act specifically recognized that previous and then existing laws had given inadequate attention to the development and use of under- ground waters of the State. In particular, surface water diversions and wells had usually been administered separately in the State. Few wells had been adjudicated. Though most wells were relatively junior to surface appropriations, little effort had been made to devise any plan to regulate their use even when their proliferation and use appeared to threaten interference with the flow of surface streams. The 1969 act declared it the policy of the State to integrate the appropriation, use, and administration of underground water with the use of surface water in such a way as to maximize the beneficial use of all the waters of the State. The 1969 act made clear that, with certain exemptions, water rights for wells would have to be adjudicated in order to be given priority as of their actual dates of initiation and provided a grace period within which unadjudicated wells might be given such a priority date. The act also enabled a surface appropriator to secure the right to have a well so situated as to draw water from the same stream system made an alternate point of diversion to the surface right, and required the use of such an approved alternate point of diversion, where it exists, before diversions under junior rights might be ordered discontinued to make water available to its owner. A 1971 amendment to the act authorized the State Engineer to promulgate separate rules and regulations of wells in different water divisions, stream basins, and different aquifers having separate and different hydraulic characteristics. The State Engineer has promulgated rules and regulations for the use of wells diverting water tributary to both the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers. The Colorado Supreme Court has upheld the rules and regulations for the South Platte River Basin in the case of Kuiper v. Well Owners Conservation Association. 2.12