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The decennial abandonment list
Colorado can take a water right away if you stop using it — and every ten years each division engineer publishes a list of the rights believed abandoned. C.R.S. § 37-92-401(1)(a)(II)
The test is intent to permanently discontinue use, not non-use alone. But long non-use is evidence of intent, and several kinds of non-use are expressly protected by statute. If your right appears on a draft list, you have a limited window to object — and missing it is final.
What abandonment actually means
"Abandonment of a water right" means the termination of a water right in whole or in part as a result of the intent of the owner thereof to discontinue permanently the use of all or part of the water available thereunder.
Two things follow. Abandonment can be partial — you can lose the portion of a right you stopped using while keeping the rest. And it turns on intent, which is why documented reasons for non-use matter so much.
The non-use that cannot be held against you
The legislature has carved out categories where non-use is tolled outright, so that owners are not punished for conserving water:
Any period of nonuse of any portion of a water right shall be tolled, and no intent to discontinue permanent use shall be found for purposes of determining an abandonment of a water right for the duration that: The land on which the water right has been historically applied is enrolled under a federal land conservation program; the nonuse of a water right by its owner is a result of participation in: a water conservation program approved by a state agency, a water conservation district, or a water conservancy district; a water conservation program established through formal written action or ordinance by a municipality or its municipal water supplier; an approved land fallowing program as provided by law in order to conserve water; a water banking program as provided by law; a loan of water to the Colorado water conservation board for instream flow use under section 37-83-105 (2).
If your non-use fits one of those, say so in writing and keep the paperwork. Leasing is often structured specifically to sit inside these categories.
How the list is made
Each division engineer maintains a tabulation of all decreed rights in seniority order, and prepares an abandonment list on a ten-year cycle:
The division engineer shall also prepare decennially a separate abandonment list comprising all absolute water rights that they have determined to have been abandoned in whole or in part and that previously have not been adjudged to have been abandoned. The division engineer shall prepare the list: For water divisions 1, 2, and 3, as established in section 37-92-201 (1)(a) to (1)(c), no later than July 1, 2030, and no later than July 1 of every subsequent tenth anniversary; and for water divisions 4, 5, 6, and 7, as established in section 37-92-201 (1)(d) to (1)(g), no later than July 1, 2035, and no later than July 1 of every subsequent tenth anniversary.
Note that the divisions are on staggered cycles, which many summaries miss:
| Divisions | Basins | Next list due |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 2, 3 | South Platte, Arkansas, Rio Grande | July 1, 2030 |
| 4, 5, 6, 7 | Gunnison, Colorado, Yampa/White, San Juan/Dolores | July 1, 2035 |
Only absolute rights appear. Conditional rights are lost a different way — by failing to show reasonable diligence in water court C.R.S. § 37-92-103(1).
What to do if your right is listed
- Do not ignore it. An abandonment list, once concluded by judgment and decree, is conclusive as to the rights determined to have been abandoned C.R.S. § 37-92-402(1)(b).
- Note the objection deadline published with the list, and diarise it immediately.
- Assemble evidence of use — diversion records, ditch company delivery records, aerial imagery, crop history, repair invoices, affidavits.
- Document any protected non-use under the tolling categories above.
- Get a water attorney. This is squarely in the category where the cost is obviously worth it.
How to check, as an owner or a buyer
There is no single statewide "abandonment list" page that stays live between cycles, because the lists are published by division on the statutory schedule. Practically:
- Contact your division engineer's office. They maintain the tabulation and the current list, and they will tell you where a right stands.
- Check the water rights transactions record for the structure, which shows what has happened to a right over time DWR water rights transactions.
- Compare the decree to the net amounts record. If the decreed amount and the current net amount differ, something has changed — possibly a prior abandonment DWR net amounts.
- Make sure DWR has your current address. Notices go to the owner of record; rights have been lost because mail went to a previous owner.
"Use it or lose it" — fair, with a caveat
The slogan is basically right, and it explains a great deal of Colorado behavior, including irrigation that continues mainly to protect a right. But it overstates the mechanism: the state must conclude you intended to stop permanently, several kinds of non-use are protected by statute, and the process gives you notice and a chance to object. What it does not give you is a second chance after the decree.
The lookup hub covers the other records worth checking, and leasing covers how owners keep water working without using it themselves.
Common questions
Can you lose water rights in Colorado by not using them?
Yes. C.R.S. § 37-92-103(2) defines abandonment as termination of a water right, in whole or in part, resulting from the owner's intent to permanently discontinue use. Non-use alone is not automatically fatal — intent is the test — but sustained unexplained non-use is strong evidence of it.
When is the next Colorado abandonment list published?
Divisions 1, 2 and 3 — the South Platte, Arkansas and Rio Grande — are next due no later than July 1, 2030. Divisions 4, 5, 6 and 7 are next due no later than July 1, 2035. Each then repeats every tenth year under C.R.S. § 37-92-401(1)(a)(II).
Is there really a ten-year rule for abandonment in Colorado?
Partly. The ten-year rebuttable presumption of abandonment appears at C.R.S. § 37-92-402(11), but § 37-92-402(14) limits that section to the 1978 tabulation and abandonment list. Ten years of non-use remains powerful evidence of intent to abandon, but it is not the general statutory rule it is often described as.
What non-use is protected from abandonment in Colorado?
Non-use is tolled while the land is enrolled in a federal land conservation program, and while the owner participates in an approved state, district or municipal water conservation program, an approved land fallowing program, a water banking program, or a loan of water to the Colorado Water Conservation Board for instream flow use.
What happens if I do not object to being on the abandonment list?
The right is lost. An abandonment list, once concluded by judgment and decree, is conclusive as to the water rights determined to have been abandoned. Objection deadlines are published with the list and are not forgiving.
Primary sources
- C.R.S. § 37-92-103(2) — definition of abandonment and tolling (Title 37, official text) C.R.S. 2025 edition
- C.R.S. § 37-92-401 — tabulations and decennial abandonment lists (Title 37, official text) deadlines July 1, 2030 and July 1, 2035
- C.R.S. § 37-92-402 — 1978 tabulation procedures, including the ten-year presumption (Title 37, official text) limited to the 1978 list by § 37-92-402(14)
- Colorado DWR — water rights transactions read July 22, 2026