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water is put to a beneficial use. See Three Bells Ranch Assocs. <br />v. Cache La Poudre Water Users Ass'n, 758 P.2d 164 (Colo. 1988), <br />and Ziqan Sand & Gravel, Inc. v. Cache La Poudre Water Users <br />Ass'n, 758 P.2d 175 (Colo. 1988). Accordingly, we affirm the <br />order of the District Court for Water Division 7 and remand for <br />further proceedings consistent with this opinion. <br />I. <br />Coalbed methane natural gas is produced from more than <br />4,000 existing wells drilled into deep coalbed formations in the <br />San Juan Basin in southwestern Colorado. CBM wells are drilled <br />between 2,000 and 3,000 feet below the surface and exist to <br />facilitate the extraction of methane gas. The gas is naturally <br />absorbed on the internal surface of the coal and held in place <br />by hydrostatic pressure from ground water that fills the cleats <br />of the coal. When pressure is reduced by removing water from <br />the cleats and bringing it to the surface, methane gas desorbs <br />from the coal and flows through the cleat system to a collection <br />well. The removed water, which has been brought to the surface, <br />is held in storage tanks. At this point, a small quantity of <br />the water is lost to evaporation. At a later time, the water is <br />typically reinjected via underground injection control wells <br />into designated geologic formations that lie deeper than the <br />aquifer from which the methane is produced. The reinjection <br />control wells are regulated by the Colorado Oil and Gas <br />rl- <br />