CMG GardenNotes #261 Colorado s Water Situation. Western Water Rights Doctrine of Prior Appropriations

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1 CMG GardenNtes #261 Clrad s Water Situatin Outline: Western water rights Dctrine f Prir Apprpriatins, page 1 Water quality terminlgy, page 2 Surces f landscape irrigatin water, page 2 Wells, page 3 Rainwater and gray water, page 3 Clrad s water use, page 4 Cmmunity water infrastructure, page 5 Ppulatin grwth and water cnservatin, page 5 Western Water Rights Dctrine f Prir Apprpriatins In Clrad and ther western states, water rights are based n the Dctrine f Prir Apprpriatin r first-in- time, first-in-right. Rights are established when water is put t beneficial use. A water right is a prperty right t use a specified quantity f the state s water fr a specified purpse. As a prperty right, water rights can be sld, leased, r rented (like ther persnal prperties such as a hme, apartment, r car). With the prir apprpriatin dctrine used in western states, a prperty wner des nt wn the water that rains, snws, r flws acrss r is adjacent t his/her prperty. By cntrast, eastern states fllw sme frm f riparian water right (i.e., water rights belng t landwners brdering the water surce). Withut an understanding f the dctrine f prir apprpriatin, newcmers and residents may fail t realize that the purchase f land des nt necessarily include the rights t irrigatin water. Under the prir apprpriatin dctrine, water rights are established by putting the water int beneficial use. The persn r rganizatin putting the water t beneficial use requests the water curts t legally recgnize the right with a decree. In the establishment f water rights, the water judge decrees the lcatin at which the water will be withdrawn, the amunt t be withdrawn, the use f the water, and assigns a pririty date. Claims with earlier pririty dates have senir rights; claims with mre recent pririty dates have junir rights. During times f reduced rainfall r drught, senir rights (water rights established in early years) take precedence ver junir rights (water rights established in recent years). Water use will be cut ff fr junir rights, prtecting senir rights

2 When a water use is changed, the water curts reissue the decree amending the wner, lcatin, amunt, r use. The pririty date will be based n the previus pririty date. Since Clrad s water supply fluctuates cntinually and the typical available water in a river basin is already wned with established water rights, issues f senir and junir rights becme very cmplex in drught scenaris. Clrad s water future As Clrad s water cnsumptin reaches the limits f its alltment under interstate cmpacts and treaties, intensive water management will becme even mre critical. Water management decisins will invlve examinatins f all ptins. Cnversatin will becme indispensable. Inevitably, as each generatin must learn, the land and the waters will instruct us in the ways f cmmunity. (Citizen s Guide t Clrad Water Law) Administratin In Clrad, the Office f the State Engineer, Clrad Divisin f Water Resurces, administers water rights. It mnitrs the amunt f water being taken frm surface and undergrund surces, and versees distributin based n the pririty f water rights. Interstate water rights are set in federal agreements based n stream flws fr the Platt, Clrad, and Arkansas River basins. Water Quality Terminlgy Regulated by the EPA, drinking water r ptable water is water f sufficiently high quality fr safe human cnsumptin. The drinking water in many Clrad cmmunities is f higher quality than mst bttled water. Over large parts f the wrld, humans have inadequate access t ptable water, and use surces cntaminated with unsafe levels f disslved chemicals, suspended sils, disease vectrs, and pathgens. Nnptable water refers t water nt prcessed t drinking-water standards. Raw water refers t untreated water taken directly frm rivers and lakes. Wastewater is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by human activities. This includes dmestic, municipal, r industrial liquid waste prducts dispsed f by flushing them with water thrugh a pipe system. Sewage technically refers t wastewater cntaminated with feces and urine. Hwever, in ppular usage, sewage refers t wastewater. Gray water refers t water frm the bath/shwer and washing machine. Black water refers t water with feces and urine (frm the tilet). Reclaimed water r recycled water is frmer wastewater (sewage) that has been treated t remved slids and certain impurities. In mst situatins, it is returned t the river system, being the nn-cnsumptive use prtin f water rights. That is, the reclaimed water returned t stream flw becmes smene s water right dwnstream. In Clrad, sme parks, glf curses, and industrial prperties are irrigated with reclaimed water. Reclaimed water may be high in salt, limiting its use fr landscape irrigatin

3 Surces f Landscape Irrigatin Water In many cmmunities, mst landscape irrigatin is dne with ptable, drinking water purchased frm the city r cmmunity water prvider (wh wns the water right r purchases the water whlesale). The surce f water may be stream flw (frm snwmelt with strage in the reservir system) r wells. During the summer irrigatin seasn, this puts a high demand n the water treatment facilities. T deal with this, many cmmunities aggressively market landscape water cnservatin. In the west, many larger landscape sites (glf curses, parks, and industrial sites) are irrigated with nnptable water r raw water. In sme western cmmunities, hmes have a waterline fr drinking water and a secnd, nnptable waterline fr irrigatin. This creates significant savings in water treatment csts. Wells Fr rural hmes, a cmmn water surce is grundwater (wells). The Clrad Divisin f Water Resurces als regulates the drilling and use f grundwater. In the past, the lack f strict regulatins caused a significant drp in the water table in sme cmmunities, creating prblems fr well users. Tday the use f wells is regulated, limiting the amunt f water that can be withdrawn. In recent years, new dmestic well permits have been very restrictive, prhibiting utdr irrigatin. Flks mving t their rural ranchette are ften shcked when they learn that they may nt irrigate the landscape with their well water. On the high plains f eastern Duglas and El Pas Cunties, the cmmunity water surce is nn-renewable grundwater (wells). This water supply is nt refilled with annual rain and snwmelt. Cnservatin is extremely critical. Rain Water and Gray Water Landscape design can be creative in reducing the surface runff f rain and snwmelt (reducing pllutin f surface water). Hwever, in Clrad state law prhibits the intentinal interceptin and diversin f rain and snwmelt (that is, the cllectin f the water in a retentin system fr later use), including rain barrels. This is an issue f water rights, as the water already belngs t smene dwnstream. Cllectin f rain and snwmelt culd interfere with anther s water right. A new exceptin which went int effect August 1, 2016 allws rain barrels t be installed at single-family husehlds and multi-family husehlds with fur (4) r fewer units. A maximum f tw (2) rain barrels can be used at each husehld and the cmbined strage f the 2 rain barrels cannt exceed 110 gallns. Rain barrels can nly be used t capture rainwater frm rftp dwnsputs and the captured rainwater must be used n the same prperty frm which the rainwater was captured, fr nly utdr purpses, including t water utdr lawns, plants and/r gardens. Rain barrel water cannt be used fr drinking r ther indr water uses. Clrad Huse Bill , which was passed and signed during the 2013 legislative sessin, prvides municipalities, cunties, and grundwater management districts the authrity t authrize graywater use and enfrce 261-3

4 rdinances. Under HB , graywater can be used t flush tilets and irrigate landscapes at residential, multi-residential and cmmercial lcatins. As f the 2017 revisin f this publicatin, nly the City and Cunty f Denver has permitted graywater uses fr irrigatin, and nly fr sub-surface r drip irrigatin f nn-fd crps. Fr additinal infrmatin n using gray water and harvesting rainwater in Clrad, refer t CSU Extensin fact sheet #6.702, Graywater Reuse and Rainwater Harvesting, and the Rainwater Harvesting in Clrad fact sheet number 6.707, available n the CSU web site at Clrad s Water Use Eighty percent f Clrad s water supply falls n the Western Slpe. With the high ppulatin alng the Frnt Range and majr agriculture in nrtheastern Clrad, 80% f the water use (that is 80% f the water rights) is alng the Frnt Range and High Plains. Table 1 gives the breakdwn f water use in a typical year. Table 1. Where des Clrad s water g? Agriculture 86% Dmestic/municipal 7% Recreatin and fisheries 3% Industrial and cmmercial 2% Augmentatin 1% Recharge 1% Surce: Clrad State Engineer s Office, 2004 Prductin agriculture is the primary user f Clrad s water supply, using 85 t 90% fr fd prductin. T grw the typical American meal it takes 500 t 2,000 gallns f water. On an annual basis, it takes 1.6 millin gallns f water t grw the fd fr the typical American diet f 2,000 calries per day. (Surce: Michigan State University Institute f Water Research) Althugh the individual farmer can be rather inefficient in use, the runff water returning t the system is used repeatedly by ther farmers dwn the line, resulting in a 90% system-wide efficiency. Landscape irrigatin Depending n the year, apprximately 7 t 10% f Clrad s water supply is used fr landscape irrigatin, including hme lawns and yards, public and cmmercial landscapes, parks, and glf curses. During the summer irrigatin seasn, 50 t 75% f a cmmunity s water use may be fr landscape irrigatin. Because it is highly visible, landscape irrigatin is ften targeted fr cnservatin. Based n cmmunity water use, the average landscape receives twice the amunt f irrigatin water that plants actually need. This is due t pr irrigatin system design, maintenance, and management. In research f actual yard-by-yard cmparisns, mst gardeners are rather efficient; hwever, thers may be applying 5 t 10 times the amunt f water actually needed! 261-4

5 With the rapid grwth in Clrad s ppulatin, sme farmers have sld, leased, r rented water rights t cmmunities. This creates a significant shift in water use during perids f drught and creates lng-term dynamics between agriculture and urbanizatin. Other demands n water flws cme with pwer generatin, recreatinal use, and wildlife habitats. As an imprtant side issue, during perids f drught (decreased stream flw), hydrelectric pwer generatin will als decrease. A standard unit fr measuring large quantities f water is the acre-ft. An acreft is the amunt f water needed t cver an acre f land t a depth f ne ft, r 325,851 gallns. The standard unit f measuring water flw is cubic feet per secnd, r cfs. One cfs equals 7.48 gallns per secnd r gallns per minute. Cmmunity Water Infrastructure A cmmunity typically invests $30,000 t $60,000 per new husehld fr the water and sewer treatment infrastructure. Due t landscape irrigatin, Clrad cmmunities typically experience 10 t 15 days per year when water use greatly exceeds average use. Because peak demand actually ccurs nly a few days a year, develping the water prcessing and delivery infrastructure t adequately meet water needs during these few peak days is very expensive. One Clrad cmmunity, fr example, is facing a $35 millin expansin t its water-prcessing infrastructure t meet peak demand fr just five days a year! The high cst f meeting peak water demand is why cmmunities ften adpt irrigatin schedules based n address (like dd/even days r ther set irrigatin day prgrams). Schedules are designed t spread the water demand mre evenly ver the week. Just imagine the water infrastructure that wuld be required if mst residents decided t water the lawn n a Saturday mrning during a ht week! Odd/even r set watering day water restrictins d nt effectively reduce ttal water usage. An underlying fear with gardeners is that they cannt hld ff irrigatin until their next turn, s the lawn is watered just because it is their turn. Irrigatin restrictins that allw fr n irrigatin n sme days f the week mre effectively cnserve water. Ppulatin Grwth and Water Cnservatin Clrad s rapid ppulatin grwth creates grwing pains fr Clrad s water supply. Due t planning by frefathers, sme cmmunities have gd water resurces, including senir rights. Other cmmunities seriusly lack sufficient water rights t supprt grwth. Residents wh d nt understand western water rights may have strng values and pinins abut where water shuld and shuld nt be used during shrtages. Under western water rights, market price t purchase water rights will determine wh has water. What are yu willing t pay? Water cnservatin, bth indrs and utdrs, is essential fr cmmunities t meet the water demands fr grwth. Sme cmmunities with limited water resurces have put restrictins n new building permits. This culd be viewed as a frm f discriminatin aimed at keeping newcmers ut f the white cmmunity

6 Other cmmunities, with limited water resurces, have allwed fr grwth by purchasing surplus water frm water rights hlders (such as ther cmmunities r farmers). Sme f the extreme water restrictins during the drught f 2002 are examples f what happens in years when surplus water is nt available fr purchase. With grwth, water cnservatin is als critical even fr thse cmmunities with senir water rights. Fr example, Denver Water and Clrad Springs Utilities, tw f the state s larger water prviders, are running ut f water resurces t supprt cntinued grwth at current usage rates. Cnservatin is essential. Water fr grwth must cme frm water cnservatin. This will be thrugh vluntary cnservatin and aggressive pricing structures t push cnservatin. Since Clrad s climate typically has a multi-year drught abut every 20 years, water cnservatin is imprtant t all residents. CMG GardenNtes n Irrigatin Management #260 Irrigatin Management: References and Review Questins #261 Clrad s Water Situatin #262 Water Mvement Thrugh the Landscape #263 Understanding Irrigatin Management Factrs #264 Irrigatin Equipment #265 Methds t Schedule Hme Lawn Irrigatin #266 Cnverting Inches t Minutes #267 Watering Efficiently #268 Hme Lawn Irrigatin Check-Up Authr: David Whiting, Extensin Cnsumer Hrticulture Specialist (retired), Clrad State University Extensin. Revisin: Kurt M. Jnes, Chaffee Cunty Extensin Directr (9/2017). Clrad Master Gardener GardenNtes are available nline at Clrad Master Gardener training is made pssible, in part, by a grant frm the Clrad Garden Shw, Inc. Clrad State University, U.S. Department f Agriculture and Clrad cunties cperating. Cperative Extensin prgrams are available t all withut discriminatin. N endrsement f prducts mentined is intended nr is criticism implied f prducts nt mentined. Cpyright Clrad Master Gardener Prgram, Clrad State University Extensin. All Rights Reserved. This CMG GardenNtes may be reprduced, withut change r additins, fr nnprfit educatinal use with attributin. Revised: September,