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

construction sites -- all of which constitute mere removal of
nuisance water rather than beneficial uses.3 We find the analogy
attempted by the Engineers and BP to be a faulty one. In their
examples, the water is exclusively a nuisance and not integral
to the task at hand. In contrast, CBM production cannot occur
without the presence and controlled removal of the water.
The Engineers and BP point out that the beneficial use of
the water in the gravel cases -- the creation of ponds for
recreation and wildlife -- came after the extraction of the
water. They argue that the gravel cases therefore create a
requirement that the beneficial use be "subsequent" or
"collateral" to the withdrawal of the water. The use of water
in CBM production cannot be deemed such a beneficial use, they
conclude, because the withdrawal and benefit, if any, occur
simultaneously.
Again, we find that our case law forecloses this argument.
While it is true, as the Engineers and BP point out, that the
gravel cases describe the beneficial use as the subsequent
wildlife and recreational use, see, e.g., Zigan, 758 P.2d
passim, those cases do not set a requirement that the beneficial
use always be subsequent or collateral to the withdrawal and
collection of water. Indeed, we have previously recognized
3 For purposes of this appeal, we assume without deciding that
the examples cited by the Engineers and BP are not beneficial
uses.
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