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Colorado's seven water divisions
Colorado is divided into seven water divisions, drawn by river basin rather than by county lines. Each has its own water court, its own water judge, and its own division engineer administering rights on the ground. C.R.S. § 37-92-201(1)
Which division you are in determines where you file, who curtails your diversion, and which tabulation of priorities your right sits in. Divisions are further subdivided into water districts — the first two digits of any WDID.
The seven, and what they cover
The statute defines each division by the drainages it contains. Division 5 is the largest by geography; Division 1 is by far the largest by number of decreed rights.
| Div | Basin | Court sits in | Decreed records | Active calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Platte, Republican, Laramie, Arikaree | Greeley | 58,328 | 23 |
| 2 | Arkansas, Dry Cimarron | Pueblo | 20,243 | 28 |
| 3 | Rio Grande, San Luis Valley | Alamosa | 18,441 | 9 |
| 4 | Gunnison, San Miguel, Little Dolores | Delta, Gunnison, Montrose | 22,382 | 27 |
| 5 | Colorado mainstem and tributaries | Glenwood Springs | 27,710 | 42 |
| 6 | Yampa, White, Green, North Platte | Steamboat Springs | 17,877 | 10 |
| 7 | San Juan, Dolores, southwest corner | Durango | 8,075 | 18 |
Court locations are as published by the Colorado Judicial Branch; Division 4 sits in three courthouses rather than one. Colorado Judicial Branch · verified Jul. 2026 Record counts and call counts were pulled from DWR on July 22, 2026 DWR net amounts DWR active calls. The totals — 173,056 decreed records and 157 calls in force on a single midsummer day — are a fair snapshot of how busy this system is.
How the statute draws the lines
Two examples give the flavour. Division 1 is the whole northeastern quarter of the state and then some:
Division 1: Division 1 consists of all lands in the state of Colorado in the drainage basins of the South Platte river, the Big Laramie river, the Arikaree river, the north and south forks of the Republican river, the Smokey Hill river, Sandy and Frenchman creeks, and streams tributary to said rivers and creeks.
And Division 5 is defined by subtraction — everything on the Colorado River except the Gunnison, which gets its own division:
Division 5: Division 5 consists of all lands in the state of Colorado in the drainage basins of the Colorado river and all of its tributaries arising within Colorado, with the exception of the Gunnison river.
What the division determines
- Where you file. Applications go to the water clerk for the division, and are heard by that division's water judge C.R.S. § 37-92-203(1).
- Which resume you read. Each division publishes its own monthly resume of applications — the notice that starts your window to oppose something upstream.
- Who administers your right. The division engineer sets calls and orders curtailment; water commissioners handle individual stream reaches.
- When the court sits. Hearing dates are staggered by division in the statute itself — see water court.
- When your abandonment list comes round. Divisions 1–3 are next due by July 1, 2030; divisions 4–7 by July 1, 2035.
Water districts, and the WDID
Each division is subdivided into water districts, numbered sequentially across the state. They are the working unit of administration — a water commissioner covers a district — and they are encoded in every structure identifier: the first two digits of a WDID are the water district. A structure with WDID 0400588 is in water district 4, which sits inside Division 1.
That is why the WDID is the fastest way into the state’s records: it tells you where you are before you have read a word.
Why seven?
Because water administration has to follow hydrology. A senior right can only call out juniors that share its source, so the natural administrative unit is the drainage — and Colorado, sitting on the continental divide, drains in several directions at once. The state is the headwaters for the South Platte, the Arkansas, the Rio Grande and the Colorado, and gives none of them to anyone else first. That geography also drives the interstate obligations described in the Colorado River Compact and the supply pressures in the supply picture.
Common questions
How many water divisions does Colorado have?
Seven, established by C.R.S. § 37-92-201(1) and drawn by river basin: Division 1 South Platte, 2 Arkansas, 3 Rio Grande, 4 Gunnison, 5 Colorado, 6 Yampa/White/North Platte, and 7 San Juan/Dolores. Each has its own water court, water judge and division engineer.
Which water division am I in?
It depends on which river basin drains your land, not which county you are in — a county can lie in two divisions. Find the parcel on the DWR Map Viewer with the water division and water district layers switched on, or read the first two digits of a nearby structure's WDID, which give the water district.
What is the difference between a water division and a water district?
A division is one of the seven basin-scale units with its own water court and division engineer. Districts are numbered subdivisions within divisions, each typically covered by a water commissioner, and they appear as the first two digits of every WDID.
Which Colorado water division has the most water rights?
Division 1, the South Platte basin, with 58,328 decreed records when checked on July 22, 2026 — roughly a third of the state's total of 173,056 and nearly three times the next largest division.
Primary sources
- C.R.S. § 37-92-201 — water divisions (Title 37, official text) C.R.S. 2025 edition
- C.R.S. § 37-92-203 — water judges and jurisdiction (Title 37, official text) C.R.S. 2025 edition
- Colorado DWR — water rights net amounts record counts by division, July 22, 2026
- Colorado DWR — active administrative calls call counts by division, July 22, 2026
- Colorado Judicial Branch — water courts and division court locations read July 22, 2026