PUB00103

• Year: 1978
• Title: The Colorado Water Study Directions for the Future - Legal Studies
• CWCB Section: Interstate & Federal
• Author: Office of the Executive Director, DNR
• Description: Legal information and data on projected water uses in Colorado and alternatives for future water use and allocation
• Publications - Doc Type: Brochure

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(3) A volume on alternatives for the future use and allocation
of water in Colorado, on the impacts of such alternatives,
and on the possible means for achieving the alternatives.

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(4) This volume of legal studies which fully describes the
existing water rights system and possible changes in that
system, and which addresses several specific legal problems.

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'(5) A volume of special studies and technical appendices.

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It should be emphasized that none of the above reports will make
recommendations regarding the future use and distribution of water,
nor will they recommend changes in existing laws and policies. The pur-
pose of the publications is to provide a thorough basis for public
consideration and discussion of "directions for the future." Following
distribution of the publications and receipt of public comments and
suggestions, the Department of Natural Resources will make recommenda-
tions to the governor concerning future Colorado water policies and
the need for changes, if any, in the present water rights system.

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THE COLORADO WATER STUDY, LEGAL STUDIES

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Various future water allocation alternatives and the consequences
thereof have been described in the analytical volume of the water
study. The purpose of this volume of legal studies is to inventory
and analyze the legal tools which are available, or which could be
made available, to influence the future use of water in Colorado
and bring about, or avoid, any given series of consequences. This
volume is the primary source of the legal tools listed and analyzed
in the volume on alternatives for the future allocation of water.
The purpose of these legal studies is not to suggest that changes
in our water rights system are needed or that change would lead to
a better result than that yielded by the present system. The purpose
is simply to determine whether there are legal tools which could
influence the distribution and use of water and, to the extent that
such tools may exist, to analyze the constitutional or other legal
problems involved.

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In order to determine the range of tools available, numerous
technical, statutory, administrative, and constitutional tools were
examined. Only a few were eliminated from consideration at the
outset:

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(1) The water study does not consider or analyze the possibi-
lity of a constitutional amendment to abrogate the right
to appropriate water. The reason for this exclusion is
that most of the surface waters in the state are already
covered by final or conditional appropriations, and such

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