The mighty and majestic state of Colorado is home to some 2, natural lakes, 9, miles of rivers, and hundreds of smaller, winding streams.
Water rights policies are decided on a state-by-state basis and, in Colorado, they work quite differently than in many other regions across the US.
Colorado is one of 19 states that employ a priority-based approach—generally referred to as a Prior Appropriation System—to decide who has rights to which sources, how much water they can use, what they can use it for, and when they can take it.
This means that the first person to physically take water from a stream or underground aquifer and apply it to beneficial use such as irrigation or residential supply retains first rights to that water source.
After applying to the appropriate Colorado water court of which there are seven—one for each major stream basin in the state , the original appropriator can get a decree verifying their priority status. When the decree is approved, it determines the point in time that the water was determined to be put to beneficial use. From that point forward, additional parties can continue to apply for rights to that water source to the extent that additional water is available.
