Wolfgang wrote:


Leading one to wonder just how "use" is defined. If, for example, merely
removing the water from the stream satisfies legal requirements, then what's
to prevent someone from running a pipe from the stream to a box containing a
mechanism that powers a whirligig and thence via another pipe back to the
stream, a bit downhill? If the law is more stringent, build yourself an
open topped box, grow watercress in it, and let the "used" water flow back
through a drain pipe.

I don't pretend to understand much of it. Water law in Colorado is
extremely complex and this has resulted in Colorado having the most
"water" lawyers in the country.

"Beneficial usage" is the term used in the law.

"Appropriation of water must be for a beneficial use. Only the amount
reasonably needed for a lawful purpose is "beneficial." Colorado law
does not designate all beneficial uses. It says instead “use of that
amount of water that is reasonable and appropriate under reasonably
efficient practices without waste for which the appropriation was
lawfully made” C.R.S. 37-92-103(4)

Beneficial use refers both to the purpose of the use (irrigation,
municipal, etc.) and the manner of the use (demonstrated need for the
amount of water appropriated under reasonably efficient practices)

The 1876 Colorado Constitution named only agricultural, municipal,
industrial, and domestic uses as beneficial uses. In 1973 the
legislature passed a minimum stream flow bill which created a new
category of beneficial use. State held instream flows sufficient to
protect the environment to a reasonable degree are a beneficial use. In
2002 the law was amended to also permit improvement of the stream as a
valid beneficial use."



Every acre foot (inch) of water is accounted for and owned. They are
serious about this. In Colorado, it's illegal for a homeowner to
capture and store the rainwater that falls on his roof ie a drum or
cistern at the end of your downspout. People have been fined for doing
this. Wells are another interesting note in Colorado law. It is illegal
for people to drill a well on their land with out having water rights ie
a well permit. These "well permits" are actually water rights and are a
finite resource. They are bought and sold in a complex matter. By law
there is one well permit allotted to every 35 acres. Some land, usually
rural, is sold with a "well permit" that has been purchased when the
land was subdivided and is tied to that parcel of land. Most
rural homeowners that have a "well permit" can only use that water for
domestic usage, ie household usage. This means no outside watering, no
watering of live stock etc. For outside watering of any type, more water
rights must be obtained.



There are many ways to use water without losing much of it.


Maybe but it also seems to me that there are more ways of losing it
without using much of it.

One of the biggest wastes I see are open unlined irrigation canals that
are used to transport water. Huge amounts of water are "lost" to seepage
and evaporation - more water than makes it down the canal at times. I
have an irrigation canal that runs along one of my property lines. It's
great for me, as it results in a subirrigated meadow running the length
of my property and raises the water table on my land to about ten feet.
Increased water usage in Colorado is always blamed on our growing
population. Granted this growth does has an effect, but domestic usage
only accounts for about 3% of water usage in the State. Over 90% is
agricultural usage. There are always pushes to conserve domestic use
(which I agree with) but there are no projects to conserve agricultural
usage. Based on the water usage, it seems to me that we should be
concentrating on making our agricultural usage more efficient. Just a 5%
saving of agricultural use will result in more water than is used by
all the people that live in Colorado for their personal use. More
efficient transportation of water would reduce the need for new and
bigger dams.


I know this is more than you asked but this is definitely one of my
"issues".

Willi