DWR_4482357

• Rule Name: Division 4 Measurement Rules
• Document Date: 7/31/2025
• Document Type - Rulemaking: Draft, Proposed and Redlined Rules
• Subject: Statement of Basis and Purpose
• Year Initiated: 2025

Diversion is located in Division 4, even if the water is delivered to another Division. The Rules
also apply to Other Structures, which means structures operated to release water from a
Reservoir or operated either to return water to the natural stream or to deliver a measured amount
of water for any purpose subject to administration, distribution, and regulation by the State
Engineer or Division Engineer, including but not limited to a waste ditch or wasteway. The
Rules do not require the measurement of the delivery of water through ditch laterals, domestic
water taps, or other similar distribution structures after the water has already been Diverted or
released from a Reservoir and measured.
The Rules apply to physical structures. For purposes of the Rules, the definition of a
Diversion does not include appropriations by the Colorado Water Conservation Board of natural
stream flows or lake levels to preserve the natural environment to a reasonable degree. Thus,
such rights do not fall within the scope of the Rules. Although the Rules do not apply to these
instream flow water rights, Division of Water Resources will only administer a call from an
instream flow water right if the instream flow water right can be measured.
Importantly, nothing in these Rules exempts Water Users from the requirements of any
other laws, rules, or water court decrees governing the use, diversion, and administration of
surface water and groundwater in Water Division 4.
The exceptions to the Rules along with the bases for the exceptions are as follows:
(1)Permitted or unregistered wells that operate pursuant to the provisions of section 37-
92-602(1), C.R.S. Such wells are either issued under a finding of no injury, or are presumed by
state statute to not cause material injury to the vested water rights of others and are exempt from
administration under the prior appropriation system. For the purpose of determining the amount
of diversion, the limited nature of these uses constitute one frequently sufficient basis to develop
an accurate estimate of the diverted amount. The State and Division Engineers retain their
discretion to order measurement of such wells on a case-by-case basis, as reasonably necessary,
outside of the requirements of these Rules.
(2)Ponds used for the limited purposes of livestock watering, wildlife watering, fire
protection, or any combination thereof that are not filled by a Diversion from a stream. The
majority of the ponds that fall within this category are located on ephemeral, normally dry
streams, or capture only surface runoff. Furthermore, these ponds are relatively small and result
in minimal depletions when used only for these limited purposes. For the purpose of determining
the amount of diversion, the limited nature of these uses constitute one frequently sufficient basis
to develop an accurate estimate of the diverted amount. The State and Division Engineers retain
their discretion to order measurement for such ponds on a case-by-case basis, as reasonably
necessary, outside of the requirements of these Rules.
(3)Head stabilization ponds. These ponds do not constitute storage of water because
water is not stored for more than 72 hours, nor are they considered a diversion of water
independent of the diversion under the water right used to supply the ponds. Instead, head
stabilization ponds are a part of the conveyance and application of water, usually for crop
irrigation, and while they are subject to the Division Engineer's administrative authority, their
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