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<br />~ I~! ~ ~ ~'f(\ <br />u ~.,' ~'J w:) <br /> <br />41 <br /> <br />the exchange of water between upstream and ,downstream water right <br />owners. Under strict interpretation of the priority doctrine. a down- ' <br />stream priority water right owner is entitled to have' his water' <br />del ivered' through the ,length of the river before junior rights upstream' <br />may be wHhdrawn. This may mean that a large flow '(cubic feet per <br />second) must remain in the river channel to compensate for transit water <br />losses, ~uch as consumptive use by phreatophytes.'seepage from the <br />channel and direct evaporation. <br />The .common sense" sol ution conceived by junior water right owners <br />is to pl10vide storage in the lower reach of the river (generally <br />off-channel storage) where off-season runoff can be stored. During the <br />irrigation season, the junior right owner will divert water from the <br />river in the upstream section and replace it in the downstream ' section" <br />with water, from storage. That exchange is made voluntarily' with the <br /> <br /> <br />,:, <br />~ ' i <br /> <br />, , <br />consent oif the senior water right owner and with cooperation by the <br />local rep1l'esentative of the State Engineer, the river commissioner. As <br />a matter of fact, the river commissioner generally keeps an accounting <br />of these 'exchanges as a service to the water users to improve the <br />overall utility of the basin water; supply. <br />Such exchanges occur throughout the South Platte River Basin and <br />are being' practiced increasingly between municipal and agricultu'ral <br />water right owners. <br />Colorado water law has been interpreted to provide that a water <br />right own,r is entitled to use the adjudicated flow of water onc'e. <br />Water not' consumed in first use must be allocated back to' the stream. <br /> <br />'I, <br /> <br />The original water right owner cannot capture and reuse the return flow <br /> <br />from his land. It becomes part of the supply for water right owners <br /> <br />,-i <br /> <br />i -,\ <br /> <br />,,' <br /> <br />~" '~ <br /> <br />-.;; 0,",,';;'0:,. <br /> <br />, , <br />~' ::.1"",~:d.i_;~.a.:,~..~.:h;2i,! <br />