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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Water Commissioners are in charge of the day-to-day administration in a particular former water district and report to a Division Engineer, who in turn reports to the State Engineer. The South Platte River basin is included in Water Division No.1, and its former water districts are discussed individually in a later section. The order of priority, point of diversion, character and place of use of a water right in Colorado are established by court decree, not by an administrative determination. Originally, these adjudication proceedings were handled in Oolorado District courts. However, since 1969, all water matters have been within the exclusive jurisdiction of special Water Judges, one located in each Water Division. The Water Judge for Water Division 1 is located in Greeley. Water rights are not permanently tied to certain uses or to certain lands in Colorado. Their uses can be changed, subject to the general condition that the other appropriators on the stream are not injured. Injury may occur in many ways but can be loosely defined as a reduction in usable quantity of water available at an appropriator's diversion point. The accomplishment of such a change requires approval from the Water Judge, who may specify terms and conditions to insure that other water rights will not be injured. Ground Water Ground water has, in the past, often been classified into two types. The first is "tributary," which is said to be subsurface water that will, if not intercepted, reach and become part of a natural stream. The second is "nontributary,1I which is said to be subsurface water that will not reach and become part of a natural stream. Because these definitions were developed at a time when knowledge of the movement of ground water was minimal, they do not necessarily correspond to current understanding of hydrologic processes. Thus, the terms IItributaryll and "nontributaryll have -45-