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<br />OJ0751 <br /> <br />To establish, or appropriate a water right in Colorado, water must be used for beneficial purposes, <br />Beneficial use is defined in the Colorado statutes as "the use of that amount of water that is reasonable and <br />appropriate under reasonably efficient practices to accomplish without waste the purpose for which the <br />appropriation is lawfully made..," (Colorado Revised Statutes, Section 37-92-103(4)), Water rights in <br />Colorado are used for a multitude of beneficial uses including but not limited to municipal, domestic, <br />industrial, recreational, environmental, and agricultural purposes, The use of water for the preservation of the <br />natural environment to a reasonable degree is considered a beneficial use, but the legal right to use water for <br />this purpose is held exclusively by the State of Colorado. <br />The prior appropriation doctrine also embodies the "use it or lose it" principle, Again this concept has its <br />roots in mining histOl)', Mining claims were valid only as long as the site was worked productively, If <br />mining activity ceased, the claim was considered abandoned, Therefore, a new claim to mining rights could <br />be established on the same site, Similarly for water rights, if appropriated water ceases to be applied to a <br />beneficial use for an extended period of time (1 0 years), the right to that quantity of water may be declared <br />abandoned. The water then remains in the stream to be appropriated by another individual or entity under a <br />junior water right. <br />Not all water in Colorado is associated with a particular water right. In some areas of the state, <br />unappropriated water is available for appropriation and beneficial use, Water is also consumed for purposes <br />that are not considered beneficial, These nonbeneficial uses include riparian vegetation such as cottonwoods <br />and willows, and evaporation from waterways, lakes, streams, and wetlands, <br />Water rights in Colorado are adjudicated by the Colorado judicial system and administered by the State <br />Engineer, who also serves as Director of the Division of Water Resources, Colorado Department of Natural <br />Resources, A district court judge is designated as a water judge in each of seven water divisions in the state, <br />and has jurisdiction to preside over water matters in the division water court, The water courts detennine <br />water right quantities and priorities, consider changes in water rights, interpret water right claims, and issue <br />legal decrees permitting the use of water, <br />The State Engineer is charged with administering and distributing the waters of the state, This officer <br />has general supervisory control over measurement, record-keeping, and regulating the distribution of the <br />waters of the state. The State Engineer is responsible for administering the orders and decrees of the water <br />court system, This consists of providing for delivery of the cowt -decreed quantity of water to water right <br />holders at the proper location and time according to priority, <br />The principles of the prior appropriation doctrine applied first to surface waters but not to ground water <br />because little was known at the time of their adoption about interrelationships between surface waters in <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />7 <br />