07SA293 Advance Sheet Headnote The Water Right Determination and Administration Act of 1969 The Colorado Ground Water management Act beneficial use well appropriation

• Description: Colorado Supreme Court opinion regarding classifying use of water for coalbed methane production as a beneficial use.
• State: CO
• Date: 4/20/2009
• Title: 07SA293 Advance Sheet Headnote The Water Right Determination and Administration Act of 1969 The Colorado Ground Water management Act beneficial use well appropriation
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Court Documents

Engineers' interpretation of the term and found that the
regulation of CBM production by the COGCC was not exclusive.
The Engineers and BP appealed to this court pursuant to
C.A.R. 1(a)(2); § 13- 4- 102(1)(d), C.R.S. (2008); and Colo.
Const., art. VI, § 2. In their appeal,.they challenge the water
court's ruling that the extraction of water in the CBM process
is a beneficial use giving rise to an appropriative water right.
We now affirm the water court's ruling that the extraction
of water for the purpose of CBM is a beneficial use giving rise
to an appropriative water right. As a result,.CBM wells are
subject to permitting, adjudication, and administration pursuant
to the 1969 Act as well as the Ground Water Act.
II.
Through the enactment of the Ground Water Act and the 1969
Act, the General Assembly delegated responsibility for the
administration, distribution, and regulation of the waters of
the state to the state and division engineers
Danielson v.
Jones, 698 P.2d 240, 247 (Colo. 1985). The issue presented by
this appeal is whether the Engineers are required to permit CBM
wells under the provisions of the Ground Water Act -- that is,
whether CBM production puts water to a beneficial use such that
CBM wells are "wells" as defined in that Act.
Under the Ground Water Act, "no new wells shall be
constructed outside the boundaries of a designated ground water
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