Ground water which, in its natural course, is not available to or required for the fulfillment of decreed surface rights, and which is within the geographic boundaries of a designated ground water basin.
The loss of water from surface water reservoirs or groundwater aquifers at a rate greater than that of recharge. Gallons per second, 448.8 gallons per minute, or 1.984 acre feet per day.Īn official document issued by the court defining the priority, amount, use, and location of the water right.Ī court decision placed on a water right that is then administered by Colorado’s Water Resources Department. Water that has been evaporated, transpired, incorporated into products, plant tissue, or animal tissue and is not available for immediate reuse.Ī rate of water flow at a given point, amounting to a volume of one cubic foot for each second of time. Any use of water that permanently removes water from the natural stream system. Operate water supply and/or potable water projects.Ī geographical area designated by the State Legislature for water management purposes with a board appointed by county commissioners.ġ. A conditional right becomes an absolute right when water is actually put to beneficial use.Ī special taxing district, created by a vote of the district’s electors, that has authority to plan, develop, and The legal preservation of a priority date that provides a water user time to develop his or her water right, but reserves a more senior date. The requirement that an upstream state cease or curtail water diversions from the river system that is the subject of the compact so that downstream states’ compact entitlements may be met. See appropriation doctrine.Īn agreement between states apportioning the water of a river basin to each of the signatory states. The doctrine regulating water usage by priority of appropriation as opposed to riparian rights. Changes of water rights must be approved by the water court to assure that no injury occurs to other water rights. Can be changed in type, place, time of use, point of diversion, adding points of diversion, etc. The request by an appropriator for water which the person is entitled to under his decree such a call will force those users with junior decrees to cease or diminish their diversions and pass the requested amount of water to the downstream senior making theĪny change in a way a water right is used. The two major types of aquifers are confined and unconfined.Ī well in which water under natural pressure rises to the surface without being pumped.Ī court-approved plan that allows a junior water user to divert water out of priority so long as adequate replacement is made to affected stream system preventing injury to the water rights of senior users.Ī legal doctrine retaining aspects of both riparian rights and the principles of prior appropriation. Underground deposits of sand, gravel, or rock saturated with water. The person or persons who put water to beneficial use. A right to water use is superior to a right developed later in time. The right to water is acquired by diverting water and applying to a beneficial use and 2.
The system of water law primarily used in the western United States under which: 1. Ground water that is hydrologically connected to a surface stream that is present in permeable geologic material, usually small rock and gravel. Using decreed water owned by another appropriator. The judicial process through which the existence of a water right is confirmed by court decree. The volume of water required to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot (43,560 cubic feet or 325,851 gallons). A water right, with a specified priority date, that has been placed to a beneficial use.