Laserfiche WebLink
COLORADO <br />'v,4 <br />• Division of Water Resources <br />"^ rGrc : ct Na:ura . ac.zrccs <br />POLICY 2011-3 <br />CONCERNING COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES <br />ON PROPERTY SERVED BY RESIDENTIAL EXEMPT AND SMALL CAPACITY WELLS <br />(AMENDED) <br />Obiective <br />Section 37-92-602, C.R.S. provides an exemption from administration in the water right <br />priority system for wells located outside of Designated Groundwater Basins whose uses are <br />limited to those identified in section 37-92-602(1). Those uses are specifically domestic uses, <br />fire fighting, livestock watering, monitoring and observation purposes, and drinking and <br />sanitary uses in a commercial business. The use of exempt wells for commercial purposes is <br />described only in subsection 602(1)(c). Similarly, section 37-90-105, authorized the State <br />Engineer to issue small capacity well permits within Designated Basins for uses identified in <br />subsection 37-90-105(1). The use of small capacity wells for commercial purposes is <br />described only in subsection 105(1)(c). Most exempt and small capacity well permits do not <br />explicitly allow commercial use of the water, yet owners of such wells may at times engage in <br />commercial activities on their residential sites. <br />The objective of this policy is to define the extent to which a residential well user may <br />engage in commercial activities on the site that is served by an exempt or small capacity well <br />that is not explicitly permitted for commercial use. <br />P is <br />Sections 37-92-602(1)(b) and (e) limit the uses of residential exempt wells to ordinary <br />household purposes, fire protection, the watering of poultry, domestic animals, and livestock <br />on farms and ranches, and the irrigation of not over one acre of home gardens and lawns. <br />Section 37-90-105(1)(a) limits the uses of residential small capacity wells to not more than <br />three single-family dwellings, including the normal operations associated with such dwellings' <br />but not including the irrigation of more than one acre of land. Although most exempt and <br />small capacity well permits do not explicitly allow commercial use, the State Engineer's <br />Office allows incidental commercial activity on the property served by a well permitted for <br />ordinary and normal household purposes, the watering of domestic animals, and the irrigation <br />of home garden and lawn if that activity does not cause an increase in the amount of water <br />used, subject to the qualifications specified below. <br />For the purposes of administering exempt and small capacity wells, commercial activity may <br />be conducted on the property when the well permit does not explicitly allow commercial use <br />with the following limitations: <br />' Watering of domestic animals is implied as part of the normal operations associated with single-family <br />dwellings in Section 37-90-105(1)(a). <br />