FLOOD00213

• County: Statewide
• Community: State of Colorado
• Title: Water Rights Determination Systems Study CWCB
• Date: 5/6/1988
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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in Utah COLORADO WATER
CONSERVATION
BOARD

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SUIIIIIUlry of Vater Right Transfers
September 27, 1988

In general, the water right transfer process in Utah is well defined and
sufficientIy flexible to meet the changing needs of society. Efforts to study
the system over the past year indicate that there are no significant legal
hindrances to the transfer process, The limitations and inhibitions which do
exist are related to (1) failure ori the part of the applicant to understand the
transfer process, and (2) organizational and procedural aspects of the State
Engineer's office. A complete discussion of these factors will be included in
the final report. These factors do not prohibit valid water transfers from
occurring, but rather delay the overall transfer process to some extent.

Over the years, a variety of transfer applications have been filed with
the State Engineer. As a result of these applications a broad base of experience
and information has been generated. At the current time two main questions
regarding water rights remain vague. These include:

Out-of-state transfers - The Attorney General's office is of the impression
that the statute allows for out-of-state transfers on new
appropriations, but is uncertain as to whether transfers can be made
on existing rights. To date no applications or court actions have
been filed which would test the statute regarding out-of-state
transfers of existing rights.

Reserved ri~hts - The Ute Indian tribe in the eastern part of the State
has requested that it be allowed to market water off the reservation.
To date no quantified rights have been agreed to by the two parties
involved, and questions exist as to whom the key authority is which
actually regulates the water claimed by the Indian tribe.

Evaluation of Chan~e and Exchan~e Records

Information regarding 3331 change applications and 874 exchange
applications was obtained from the State Engineer's office which covers the
period from 1980-1987. These records were obtained through a combination of
available computer records and additional files available for public inspection.
It was assumed for this analysis that these records accurately portray the trends
and directions of -water transfers within the State of Utah during the study
-period.

Chan~e Applications

Number of applications filed
The number of change applications filed per year does not appear to be
following any particular trend over the study period. The total number of
applications filed has varied from a low of 333 in 1984 to a high of 466 filed
in 1983. Figure 1 is a graphical portrayal of the total number of change
applications filed statewide. Sl% of the change applications have been filed on
water in the southwestern quarter of the State. This region supports 6% of the
State's population according to state population statistics of 1987. Table 1
lists the activity of change applications within the 46 individual areas of the
state in terms of the number of applications filed during the study period.