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Colorado Water Resources Researcb Institute Current Issues in Colorado Water Administration Water differs from many natural resources b}' its renC'olr'able and reusable nacure, Water evaporateS from the world's oceans and lakes. falls as rain or mow over land. and then makes its way back to the oceans as surface and ground water. The c.a:nbinatioo of these pro- cesses is known as the bydrologic cycle. Fa- cmsumptive purposes. humans make use of fresh water 80wing in streams or stored beneath the ground, As water 80ws from land to sea. it may be reused many times by many different people for many purposes. On the South Plane River. fer example. treated waste- water frem Front Range municipalities is released into the river and used for i.rriga. tioo d<M'OStream, In Colorado and throughoulthe arid West, waler remains an extremely valu- able resource. As in many places, the value of water on the South Platte River grows with demand while supplies remain essentially fixed. Demands for irrigation water compete with mandated minimum stream flows and increasing domestic and industrial demands, inten- sive water use engenders water quality p-ob1ems. particularly for more down- stream users, . . . Current Water Needs By comparison. the South Plane River is small. 1be Colorado River. for example. has a native annual supply of 6.74 million acre. feel of water in the State of Colorado, while the South Platte has a native anrwal supply of ooIy 1.~ millioo acre feet (U,S.B.R. 1974), Despite its relatively small size. the South Plane is vital to Colorado's econ- any, AJlhoogh lhe Sculh PI... River drains less than 20 percent of Colorado. more than 67 percent of the state's resi. dents live within the South Platte drain. age basin. AgriculDJral uses acooumed for 69 percent of South Platte surface water withdrawals in 1994. while municipal uses totaled a bout 17 percent. C'352 Demand for wateI 00 the South Platte typically exceeds supply from the late strin8 until the end of the irrigatioo seasoo in the fall. WateI scarcity fcrees more junior appropriat.ors to stop divert- ing water in order to satisfy the demands of senior appropnatcn. Each day of the irrigatioo season. water administrat(n decide woo is allowed to diven water from the South Platte River. . . . Administration and the Role of the Water Commissioner In Colorado_ the State Engineer heads the Division of Water Resoutce.s and holds responsibility for Mmini~tra' tioo of the State.s waler5. There are seven administrative divisions in Colo- rado, each with a division engineer. The di\'isioo engineers enfon:e the laws and protecl the interests of the state with respect 10 the distributioo of waler. Each field division has a number of waler commissiooers who detennine available river 80\\'s. gather infcrmatioo. and Greeley 60.. Denver enforce the provisioos of Colorado water law in their districts, The South Plalte River falls within Division I, In Division I. eleven water districts correspond to eleven major trib- uwies a sets of tributaries of the South Platte, A differenl water commissioner is responsible for each district. and many districts have deputy co:nmissiooers to assist the commissiooers with their duties. Duties of the water commissioaer include: controlling and regulating the distributioo of water; gathering. editing aod compiling official diversion recads; measuring 80ws in creeks. rivers. clilCbes, and pipes; and communicating between the division of water resoura:s and water users, In addition. the water commissioner assists with inspection of dams and wells. 1be water commissioner needs up- to-date information cooceming his or her CNr'O district. as well as infonnatioo about other districts. SPWRMS serves the Divisioo of Waler Resources. the water commissioner. and the South Plane water u.sc.r by facilitating informatioo exchange among water users and admin. istrators, River ",W <(\V f' g:> South Platte River Basin T~ Soulh PlaJ1~ Riwr droinJ tk populous Colorado Front Rong~. 3