HISTORY OF COLORADO GROUNDWATER REGULATIONS

Water in Colorado is a public resource. Surface and tributary groundwater is allocated to water users based on prior appropriation (first in time first in right).Colorado is historically concerned with surface water rights. Groundwater connection to streams was not recognized until 1951 when the Colorado Supreme Court in Safranek v.Town of Limon adopted a presumption that all groundwater in Colorado is tributary to streams and surface water unless it is proved to be nontributary.

Since groundwater would be treated the same as surface water, its use would be governed by prior appropriation including the need of prior appropriation including the need for court approved water rights and management by the State Engineer.

Since there were no procedures to help the state manage groundwater use, in 1957 the General Assembly passed the Colorado Ground Water Law (SB 57-113) which for the first time required well permits. Existing wells had to be registered with the State Engineer, well drilling licensed and application submitted to the Sate Engineer for permits on new large capacity well (greater than 50gpm).

In 1965 the Colorado Legislature adopted the Ground Water Management act that authorizes the Colorado Ground Water Commission to create designated groundwater basins that little or no connection to a stream.

In 1985 Colorado Senate Bill 5 changed the criteria for aquifer management and the determination the availability of non-tributary groundwater. The standard was a land owner could appropriate the groundwater in the bedrock aquifers beneath the land that he/she owned at a rate that would insure it lasted for at least 100 years. To sustain a 100-year life, the total annual withdrawals were limited to 1% of total recoverable water underlying the land Furthermore, the legislation declared that the groundwater rights must be protected in the form of insuring aquifer life, not the maintenance of historic water levels.