Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />@ <br /> <br />Glossary of Terms <br /> <br />Absolute Water Right: a water right that has been put to beneficial use; see <br />also "conditional water right." <br /> <br />Acre-Foot (AF): the volume of water required to cover one acre to a depth of <br />one foot; the equivalent of 326,000 gallons and enough to satisfy the annual water <br />needs of approximately eight people. <br /> <br />Acre Feet Annually (AFA): the volume of water, measured in acre-feet, over <br />the course of a year. <br /> <br />Adjudication: a judicial proceeding in which water rights are decreed priori- <br />ty dates based on their date of first use. <br /> <br />Administration: the act of ensuring that, in times of water shortage, water <br />rights are satisfied in order of their priority; through administration, senior water <br />rights holders are satisfied before water is delivered to junior water rights holders. <br />This activity is overseen by the State Engineer and his subordinate Division <br />Engineers. <br /> <br />Annual Yield: see definition of "Firm Annual Yield." <br /> <br />Appropriation: the application of water from a stream, tributary, or aquifer <br />for beneficial use at a specified rate of flow; appropriations can be for out-of-stream <br />use, in-stream use, or storage; usually evidenced by a water court decree. <br /> <br />Aquifer: an underground deposit of sand, gravel, or rock through which <br />water can pass or is stored. Aquifers can be "confined" (trapped by non-porous layers <br />of rock) or "unconfined" (seepage to adjoining layers possible) and are often the <br />source of water for wells and springs. <br /> <br />Beneficial Use: the application and use of an amount of water that is reason- <br />able and appropriate (e.g., without waste) for human or natural benefit; Colorado's <br />policy is to maximize beneficial use of all of the waters of the State. <br /> <br />Build Out: the estimated extent of residential, commercial, and industrial <br />development in a given geographic area; usually related to upper limit of population <br />to be served by water resource development. <br /> <br />Call: in times of water shortage or scarcity, the exercise of senior water rights <br />that forces curtailment of junior water rights. <br /> <br />Compact: a contract between states, tribes, or other governmental entities <br />that apportions water from a river system crossing jurisdictional boundaries. <br /> <br />Gunnison Basin Water <br /> <br />. 53 . <br />