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<br />several different occasions and Mr. Moses drafted <br />the report. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />I would like to say this in connection with <br />it, that again we have to recognize the fact <br />that the Constitution of the state of Colorado <br />provides that the right to divert water for a <br />beneficial use shall never be denied. Now we <br />also covered in this agenda item a statement of <br />the principle purposes of this Board, pointing <br />out that it is a pOlicy making Board, it is not <br />a legislative body, and that care should be <br />exercised not to infringe upon the part of the <br />Legislature or the courts in regard to this <br />question, nor to infringe upon the rights of <br />the appropriators who divert water from our <br />streams for beneficial purposes in accordance <br />with the Colorado constitution. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />There are three concepts here that we've <br />got to keep clearly in mind. One is that our <br />waters, under-the Constitution, must be applied <br />to a beneficial use and it's just as important <br />that they continue to be applied to a beneficial <br />use under the decisions of our courts as it is <br />that they be acquired for a beneficial use. A <br />fairly recent case in Colorado holds just that - <br />that in order to perpetuate that right we must <br />continue to apply it to a beneficial use. We <br />concluded that dilution was a separate problem <br />and we have all kinds of authority in Colorado <br />to the effect that if pollution becomes a <br />nuisance, it is subject to injunctive action <br />under the existing law but once water is taken <br />from the stream and applied to a beneficial use <br />and once that use has been consummated, the re- <br />turn flow of that water finds its way back into <br />the streams and is public water again by the <br />time it starts back. <br /> <br />So it's difficult, if not impossible, to <br />make a general blanket policy covering this <br />matter so we wouldn't find ourselves in trouble <br />perhaps from a legal standpoint. Therefore the <br />resolution that has been presented tries to <br />define the rights of the individual users in the <br />