Agricultural to urban water transfers in Colorado: an assessment of the issues and options

December 1993.This publication is a product of the Natural Resources Law Center, a research and public education center at the University of Colorado School of Law.With constrains on the additional development of water supplies and in the face of growing urban demands for water cites have increasingly been turning to the water transfer process as a means of expanding their supplies. Urban encroachment onto formerly irrigated croplands long has caused the use of irrigation water to change to urban use. To make the transfers economically warranted the size of the transfers tends to be large. This transfer of large quantities of water from often rural areas with little alternative economic opportunity is prompting many western states to revisit their water transfer laws. This report examines approaches taken in the western states to both better facilitate the water transfer process and better address so-called third party effects. The report focuses initially on water transfer law and procedure in Colorado and notes that Colorado emphasizes a single kind of transaction--one in which there is a permanent purchase of a water right and a consequent total cessation of the associated activity. The report then provides a detailed evaluation of a variety of approaches used in other western states involving (1) conditioning water transfers, (2) requiring reduced water use, (3) providing incentives to conserve, and (4) facilitating short-term transfers. Finally recommendations are made for changes in Colorado law and procedure providing incentives to save water, establishing water banks, and addressing third party effects.Financed in part by the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey, through the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute

Controlling Water Use: The Unfinished Business of Water Quality Protection

This digital resource contains only an abstract, cover image and table of contents information from the published book. Print copy of book is available in the University of Colorado’s Wise Law Library: http://lawpac.colorado.edu/record=b136188~S0https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/books_reports_studies/1138/thumbnail.jp

Controlling Water Use: The Unfinished Business of Water Quality Protection

This digital resource contains only an abstract, cover image and table of contents information from the published book. Print copy of book is available in the University of Colorado’s Wise Law Library: http://lawpac.colorado.edu/record=b136188~S0https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/books_reports_studies/1138/thumbnail.jp

National Interests in Instream Flows

p. 69-86 ; 23 cmhttps://scholar.law.colorado.edu/books_reports_studies/1108/thumbnail.jp

National Interests in Instream Flows

p. 69-86 ; 23 cmhttps://scholar.law.colorado.edu/books_reports_studies/1108/thumbnail.jp

Instream Flow Protection in the West

1 v. (various pagings) : ill., maps ; 28 cm POLICIES AND ISSUES: Recognizing the value of in-place uses of water in the West : an introduction to the laws, strategies and issues / Steven J. Shupe, Lawrence J. MacDonnell -- Instream flows : integrating new uses and new players into the prior appropriation system / Christopher H. Meyer -- People preserving rivers : the public and its changing role in protecting instream flows / Lori Potter -- Instream flows and the public trust / Harrison C. Dunning -- The federal role in in-place water protection / Lawrence J. MacDonnell, Teresa A. Rice -- Benefits, costs and water acquisition strategies : economic considerations in instream flow protection / Bonnie G. Colby -- Quantifying instream flows : matching policy and technology / Berton L. Lamb -- Future issues in instream flow protection in the West / A. Dan Tarlock STATE PROGRAMS: An assessment of instream flow protection in Alaska / Mary Lu Harle, Christopher C. Estes -- Instream flow water rights : Arizona\u27s approach / Herb Dishlip -- A reconsideration of instream appropriative water rights in California / Brian E. Gray -- Colorado\u27s instream flow program : integrating instream flow protection into a prior appropriation system / Steven O. Sims -- Instream flows in Idaho / Josephine P. Beeman -- Minimum desirable streamflow in Kansas / Leland E. Rolfs -- Instream flow policy in Montana : a history and blueprint for the future / Matthew J. McKinney -- Nebraska instream appropriation law and administration / J. David Aiken -- Protecting New Mexico\u27s instream flows / Tim DeYoung -- Instream flow protection in Oregon / Michael J. Mattick -- Instream rows in Utah / Mark A. Holden -- Protecting instream resources in Washington State / Kenneth O. Slattery, Robert F. Barwin -- Wyoming\u27s instream flow law / Gordon W. Fassetthttps://scholar.law.colorado.edu/books_reports_studies/1069/thumbnail.jp