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<br />I <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />a junior right upstream. The call is exercised through the Water <br />Commissioner acti.ng for the Divisi.on Engineer, The Water Commissioner <br /> <br />may order the junior headgate closed or may actually close the headga te <br />himself . This system of appropriation and admi n istrat ion thus deter- <br />mines the legal availability of water at a given location on a stream. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />There are two categories of water rights in terms of time from diversion <br /> <br /> <br />to use. Direct flow rights are for water diverted from the stream to <br /> <br /> <br />a ditch and put to use more or less promptly. Storage rights are for <br /> <br /> <br />water diverted from the flow of the stream and stored in a reservoir to <br /> <br /> <br />be released for use at some later time, within the same year or in a <br /> <br /> <br />subsequent year. Diversion for a storage right may be either for a <br /> <br /> <br />reservoir off the channel of the stream from which it was diverted, or <br /> <br /> <br />it may be for an on-channel reservoir. <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />In Colorado it is possible to obtain a decree for the entire amount of <br />water intended to be appropriated upon the condition that the appropriator <br />proceeds with due diligence in the completion and construction of the <br />diversion project. Such a decree is "conditional" until it becomes <br />absolute by application of the water to beneficial use at which time it <br />receives a priority dating back to the date upon which the appropriator <br />took the "first step" in effecting the appropriation. Conditional <br />rights are maintained by demonstrating diligence to the water court at <br />regular intervals. <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />Not all the water diverted is actually consumed in use and a portion <br /> <br /> <br />returns to the stream and is available to downstream appropriators. <br /> <br /> <br />Irrigation consumptive use is defined as the amount of water used by <br /> <br /> <br />crops in transpiration and building of plant tissue, and which evaporates <br /> <br /> <br />from adjacent soil and intercepted precipitation on plant foliage. <br /> <br /> <br />Water consumptively used is removed from the physical system and is no <br /> <br /> <br />longer available to the stream. The amount of consumptive use varies <br /> <br /> <br />with the type of use and method of application. For irrigation, con- <br /> <br /> <br />sumptive use ranges from 40 to 60 percent of diversions. Domestic and <br /> <br /> <br />municipal consumptive use ranges from 5 to 40 percent and for power <br /> <br /> <br />generation and placer mining there is virtually no consumptive use. <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />IV-3 <br />