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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Average annual water consumptive uses for municipal and industrial purposes are only a fraction of the estimated consumptive use for irrigation. For example, as of 1970, the average annual consumption for municipal and industrial uses in the basin totaled 164,000 acre-feet (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1974). By 1979, average annual consumption by municipal and industrial uses had increased to an estimated 227,000 acre-feet in the basin (John Huyler, personal communication, Colorado Water COnservation Board, June 19B1). Average annual consumptive use for other uses totaled 41,000 acre-feet for 1979 conditions; these include recreation and fish and wildlife water uses {John Huyler, personal communication, Colorado Water Conservation Board, June 1981). Water Rights Surface Water Colorado follows the system of water law known as the doctrine of prior appropriation. This system is based upon the "imperative necessity" of irrigation in the arid west. Under the Colorado Constitution, the waters of natural streams are the property of the public and subject to appropria- tion. The basic tenet of the appropriation doctrine is that "first in time--first in right. II II. water right is acquired by applying water to beneficial use. However, a claimant who establishes a firm intent to appropriate water which is accompanied by some physical demonstration of the intent is, upon completion of the appropriation with reasonable diligence, entitled to "relate back" his priority to the date the first step was taken, thereby giving notice of intent to appropriate. Beneficial uses include, but are not limited to, domestic, agricultural, industrial, and municipal purposes and may involve water storage for any of these purposes. A court decree is not necessary to obtain a water right. The date on which an appropriation is made establishes its priority. However, failure to adjudicate a water -43-