Water in Colorado belongs to the people of the State. The State manages the resource for the benefit of its citizens. Colorado’s system of prior appropriation for managing water rights has its foundations in mining law. This system gives users of surface water a priority based on the date their water right is placed to […]
News and Insights
Water rights in Colorado are prioritized and administered based on the year of their decree and date of appropriation. The oldest decreed water rights are most senior and are entitled to divert their decreed flow rate when water is in short supply. If there is not enough water in the stream at their diversion point, […]
Recently, the City of Aurora entered into a contract to purchase 119 shares in the Whitney Irrigation Company from BCI Waterco, LLC, an affiliate of the Broe Companies. Some are concerned that this purchase signals a renewal of water raids from the Denver metro area into northern Colorado water supplies. However, the Denver metro area […]