My WebLink
|
Help
|
About
|
Sign Out
Home
Browse
Search
FLOOD00515
CWCB
>
Floodplain Documents
>
Backfile
>
1-1000
>
FLOOD00515
Metadata
Thumbnails
Annotations
Entry Properties
Last modified
11/23/2009 10:51:01 AM
Creation date
10/4/2006 9:19:23 PM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Floodplain Documents
County
Statewide
Community
State of Colorado
Title
Water Rights Determination Systems Study CWCB
Date
6/1/1987
Prepared By
CWCB
Floodplain - Doc Type
Educational/Technical/Reference Information
Jump to thumbnail
< previous set
next set >
There are no annotations on this page.
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015
Laserfiche.
All rights reserved.
/
953
PDF
Print
Pages to print
Enter page numbers and/or page ranges separated by commas. For example, 1,3,5-12.
After downloading, print the document using a PDF reader (e.g. Adobe Reader).
Show annotations
View images
View plain text
<br /> <br />an existing right that presently is being <br />evaporated, consumed, or otherwise lost to <br />beneficial use and either expand his own use <br />or transfer the salvaged water so long as <br />there is no injury to other water rights." At <br />least one early Colorado case seems to <br />approve the idea.that more economical use of <br />one's water could enable the use of the saved <br />portion on additional lands through a change <br />of use proceeding and subject to the no <br />injury requirement." The absence of any <br />efforts to use salvaged water to date may <br />reflect the relatively small amount of water <br />that can be realized by such efforts in most <br />situations compared with their cost. Better <br />technical analysis of this issue is needed. <br /> <br />Transfer of a Con.ditioIuzJ Water Right <br /> <br />Colorado law considers a conoitional <br />water right to be a vested property interest." <br />Changes of conditional water rights are <br />specifically authorized by statute'" As a <br />general matter the rules applying to the <br />change of any water right apply in the case of <br />a change of a conditional water right. <br /> <br />In fact, however, there are some <br />peculiarities in the case of conditional water <br />rights that raise special issues. No water has <br />ever been diverted and applied to a beneficial <br />use in the case of a conditional water right; <br />there is only the specific intent to do so, <br />coupled with overt actions sufficient to give <br />notice of that intent. Conditional rights are <br />protected only to the extent that due <br />diligence in pursuing this intent or plan is <br />exercised." A change may involve a <br />completely different use of the water in <br />contravention of the intent upon which the <br />right was granted. Or the change may be <br />made as a means of making developable an <br />otherwise infeasible project." . <br /> <br />Nevertheless, changes in conditional <br />water rights have been pennitted, and special <br />problems in evaluating injury under such <br />changes have been considered. The <br />transferable quantity of water has been <br /> <br />determined to be tfie ~mount 'contemplated" <br />under the conditional ('.~~ree so that there <br />would be no injury to junior appropriators <br />from the change.'oo <br /> <br />Transf= of ConJraa Water <br /> <br />Water may1>e supplied for use under <br />contract by another individual or entity <br />holding' the appropriative water right. The <br />rights to such water are primarily defined by <br />the terms of the contract, and are voluntarily <br />established. Colorado law does affect <br />contract rights in some circumstances. For <br />example, a carrier ditch companylOl is required <br />by statute to provide water to the classes of <br />users it is incorporated to serve whenever it <br />has water in its ditch unsold, and to have the <br />rates for furnishing this water fIXed by the <br />board of county commissioners.lO' Contract <br />provisions have been struck down in several <br />cases because they were found to be <br />inequitable to the water users and against <br />public policy.,m <br /> <br />Green v. Chaffee Ditch Company'''' <br />illustrates the differences between the legal <br />right to change an appropriative water right <br />and the right to change a water contract. <br />Holders of a contract right for irrigation <br />water supply sought to sell this right to a city. <br />The original appropriative right had been <br />conveyed to a ditch company in 1870 in <br />return for a contract right to an equivalent <br />amount of water for irrigation of specified <br />lands. The supreme court noted that "[s]uch <br />a contracted right is far different from the <br />'water right' acquired by [the original <br />appropriator]. Originally the right [of the <br />appropriator] had the status of real property <br />. and could be conveyed without reference to <br />the land on which it had been used."lO' <br />Following his agreement with the ditch <br />company, the former appropriator "becomes <br />only a consumer whose rights were <br />determined by contract...."'C6 <br /> <br />Bureau of Reclamation projects <br />supplied about 2.4 million acre-feet of water <br /> <br />9 <br />
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.