Hello, readers, I'm back! I've had a couple of family issues going on that have kept me busy. Around all that, I have still been studying like crazy.
One of the topics that I have been studying that is complicated in real estate is water rights. Everybody needs water, but not everyone can own water. And, certainly in Colorado, people cannot do whatever they want with water.
A long time ago, when Colorado became a state in 1876, the founders placed water issues directly into their state Constitution. If you want to see, there is a copy of the Colorado Constitution held in the archives. If you look on page 42, you will see Article 16, Section 5 states: "The water of every natural stream, not heretofore appropriated, within the state of Colorado, is hereby declared to be the property of the public, and the same is dedicated to the use of the people of the state, subject to appropriation as hereinafter provided."
What this means is that the State of Colorado governs the use of water in the state. Section 5 essentially states that any water not already claimed and being used, was owned by the public and the state would make decisions about it. The next section, Section 6, states that if someone wants to use unclaimed water for beneficial reasons, there is a priority about that use. When there isn't enough water for all uses, domestic use has first priority. After that, agricultural use is second, and manufacturing use is third and last.
This makes good sense, as long as farmland isn't condemned and replaced by subdivisions, making us lose too much of our food source. However, it seems that the court cases since then have been interested in paying farmers for their water rights.
In the constitution, Sections 7 & 8 cover the "right of way" across land for constructing waterways for those mentioned uses, and establishing rates for water use. Obviously lots of tweaking has occurred with water rights since 1876, but the state still has a tight hold on water. Since the public owns the water, people only get the right to USE the water and only if it's for an ACCEPTABLE USE. Also there is a "pecking order" of who gets to use water, like from a river, before other people get to use it.
This means that in order to do something like build a water fountain in your backyard, unless you want to use your domestic, drinkable water, lots of issues would need to be addressed first. You would definitely need a permit. Whether or not you could get a permit would depend on if you were disturbing a shallow water table beneath your yard, if you even have the right to store water, if you would be "impounding water" (like a dam) above the ground's surface, where you would get the water for filling the fountain, etc.
In another example, let's say you wanted to buy a house with a plot of land or a farm with some acreage. You'd need to make sure you understand where the potable, or drinkable, water comes from. If you are interested in real estate, make sure you notice on the listing contract, the sales contract, and/or the seller's property disclosure information about the water source. The drinkable water could come from a well, a company or municipality, or neither, in which case the water source has to be mentioned. For example, it could be a cistern that you need to refill by hauling water in a tank with a truck. If other water is needed for animals, gardens, or fields, it is important to find out if stocks are needed to purchase the use of that water, whether it comes canals or ditches, and whether using that water involves an additional purchase and real estate deed. Water doesn't automatically go with the land; it's treated as a separate transaction.
There are two more things I want to share with you. The first is that the Colorado Division of Water Resources has a lot more information. It is also the "Office of the State Engineer" that "administers water rights, issues water well permits, represents Colorado in interstate water compact proceedings, monitors stream flow and water use, approves construction and repair of dams and performs dam safety inspections, issues licenses for well drillers and assures the safe and proper construction of water wells, and maintains numerous databases of Colorado water information."
The second thing is that there are attorneys in Colorado who specialize in water rights and uses. If you are buying land that needs irrigation or has a well, you might want to get help with it. If you go to the Colorado State Bar Association directory and look up "Water Law," attorneys are listed.
You may find it easiest to have someone who's specialized in learning about these things help you, like a Grand Junction broker!
