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Water Rights Resources

Water law is complex, nuanced, and can be difficult to understand. We delve into common water law concepts and provide tutorials that describe how it use publicly available tools to learn more about water rights. To this end, below are a series of articles that are designed to help parties develop a general understanding of some of the basic principles of water law. The information provided below is for educational purposes only and if you have specific questions about your water rights, please contact the attorneys at Nazarenus Stack & Wombacher for legal advice. Use of this information is explicitly subject the website disclaimer available at this link https://www.nswlaw.com/disclaimer

Parker Water and Sanitation District v. Rein

On November 4, 2024, in Parker Water and Sanitation District v. Rein, 559 P.3d 217 (Colo. 2024), the Colorado Supreme Court held that a total lifetime volumetric limit is implied in every well permit and water court decree for the withdrawal of nontributary groundwater from Denver Basin aquifers, whether expressly stated or not, unless a decree explicitly provides otherwise. .

For Colorado well users, this means their wells implicitly have a total lifetime volumetric limit equal to 100 times the maximum annual rate of withdrawal. For example, if a well permit allows withdrawal of 3 acre-feet per year, the State Engineer’s Office will impose a 300 acre-feet total lifetime volumetric limit on that well. This means when that well hits 300 acre-feet of withdrawal, it will be forced to stop all further diversions. This is very important to understand because it means that all Denver Basin wells have a finite and limited water supply. As a result, there will become a time when Denver Basin wells will no longer be available to provide water for homes, businesses, and municipal water suppliers. Because of this decision, municipalities such as Parker and Castle Rock have been forced to adjust their water supply planning accordingly. As a result of this decisions it is now more important than ever that deeds transferring Denver Basin water rights include both the annual rate and the total volume available. Many Denver Basin well users are unaware of this decision and the impacts to their wells. If you have questions about this decision or its potential impact to your wells then please reach out to the attorneys at NSW law.

News, Colorado Water LawWilliam Wombacher