Chapter 8 - § 8.1 • INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 8.1 • INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

This discussion is designed to provide a basic understanding of designated ground water, the types of designated ground water, how and with whom new appropriations are submitted, how changes in designated ground water withdrawals are approved and administered, how final water rights within designated ground water basins are issued, how and with whom designated ground water is administered, and how designated ground water interrelates with other water resources within the State of Colorado.

Before a discussion of the current statute and how designated ground water rights are allocated, administered, and changed, some attention must be given to the policy behind the Colorado General Assembly's creation of designated ground water from the traditional prior appropriation system. Prior to the 1950s, Colorado paid very little attention to ground water and took the position that all ground water was presumptively tributary unless the water user could demonstrate otherwise.¹ As a result, administration of ground water occurred either entirely within or outside the prior appropriation system. However, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, ground water within Colorado became increasingly exploited. As a result of this increase in ground water use, the state began taking a closer look at its ground water resources including the ways to manage them.²

Historically, Colorado did not regulate ground water withdrawals.³ Further, Colorado did not require well permits,⁴ and data collected in the State Engineer's Office concerning the interaction between ground water and surface water was incomplete. This lack of regulation, coupled with increased use of ground water within the state, created tension between ground water and surface water users. Further, water rights, including the few ground water rights, were administered on a state level under the priority system with little or no local control. These combined factors led the Colorado General Assembly to review the state's ground water policy and develop registration, allocation, and administration criteria.⁵

The initial ground water law passed by the Colorado legislature was the 1957 Groundwater Act.⁶ This Act was ineffective because it was only a registration law and not a comprehensive ground water allocation and administrative act.⁷ As a result of this ineffective legislation, the General Assembly revisited this law in 1965 and eventually completely rewrote the ground...