Last verified
What a Colorado water right actually is
A Colorado water right is a right to use water that belongs to the public — never ownership of the water itself. Specifically, it is a court-decreed permission to divert a measured quantity, from a named source, through a particular structure, for a stated purpose, ranked against everyone else by the date the use began. C.R.S. § 37-92-103(12)
Remove any one of those elements and you do not have a water right. A well permit is not one. A deed reciting "water rights" is not one. A tap from the city is not one.
The statutory definition is one sentence long
"Water right" means a right to use in accordance with its priority a certain portion of the waters of the state by reason of the appropriation of the same.
Every phrase in it is load-bearing. A right to use — lawyers call this usufructuary, a right to use something someone else owns. In accordance with its priority — your place in line, which is the subject of prior appropriation. A certain portion — a measured quantity, not "the creek." Waters of the state — because the water is public property:
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.
The five things a decreed right specifies
When a water court confirms a right, the decree fixes five things. Any change to any of them requires going back to court.
| Element | What it fixes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Priority date | Seniority against every other right on the source | June 30, 1875 |
| Amount | Rate or volume you may take | 27.2 cfs absolute |
| Source | The stream or aquifer | Little Thompson River |
| Point of diversion | The structure and its location | A named ditch headgate |
| Decreed use | What the water may be used for | Irrigation |
That last one surprises people most often. A right decreed for irrigation cannot simply be pointed at a subdivision's taps; converting it is a change of water right, litigated in water court, and the amount that survives the change is usually much smaller than the decreed rate.
Beneficial use is both the point and the ceiling
A Colorado right exists to accomplish something. The measure of the right is the amount reasonably needed to do that thing without waste:
"Beneficial use" means the use of that amount of water that is reasonable and appropriate under reasonably efficient practices to accomplish without waste the purpose for which the appropriation is lawfully made.
Two consequences follow. You cannot appropriate water to hold it off the market — an appropriation resting on speculative resale rather than a real plan and place of use is not an appropriation at all C.R.S. § 37-92-103(3). And a right you stop using can be lost to abandonment if the state concludes you meant to stop permanently.
What is not a water right
- A well permit. It is permission from the State Engineer to construct and use a well within stated limits. Most household wells are exempt wells, permitted rather than decreed, with no priority date to speak of. The distinction is worth its own page: a permit is not a right.
- A ditch company share. You own stock in a mutual company; the company owns the decreed right and delivers you a proportional share of what it receives. Shares transfer by stock certificate, not by deed.
- A municipal tap. You are buying a service from a utility that holds the rights.
- Rain in a barrel. The statute authorizing rain barrels says in terms that using one does not constitute a water right.
So can you own water in Colorado?
You can own a water right, and it is real property: it can be bought, sold, mortgaged, inherited, and taxed, and it is often the most valuable thing attached to a piece of agricultural land. What you cannot own is the water. The distinction is not academic — it is why the state can curtail your diversion in a dry year, why moving your water requires a court's permission, and why a right you stop using can evaporate. The rest of the basics follows that thread, starting with the kinds of rights Colorado recognizes.
Common questions
What does "water rights" mean in Colorado?
It means a legally recognized right to divert and use a specific quantity of public water, according to a priority date, for a decreed purpose. C.R.S. § 37-92-103(12) defines a water right as "a right to use in accordance with its priority a certain portion of the waters of the state by reason of the appropriation of the same." The water itself remains public property.
Do I own the water on my property in Colorado?
No. Under Colorado Constitution article XVI, section 5, the water of every natural stream is the property of the public. Groundwater under your land is presumed tributary to a stream and part of the same system. You may hold a right to use water, but you do not own the water.
Does Colorado have water rights separate from land?
Yes. Colorado water rights are separate property from the land and can be sold apart from it — which is why land can be marketed as "with water rights" or be found to have had its water severed years earlier. Always confirm what is actually attached before closing.
Is a well permit a water right?
No. A well permit is the State Engineer's authorization to construct and use a well subject to conditions. Most residential wells are exempt wells permitted outside the priority system entirely, and they carry no decreed priority date that would let them place a call on the stream.
Primary sources
- C.R.S. § 37-92-103 — definitions (Title 37, official text) C.R.S. 2025 edition
- Colorado Constitution, article XVI, section 5 (official text) effective Aug. 1, 1876
- C.R.S. § 37-92-102 — basic tenets of Colorado water law (Title 37, official text) C.R.S. 2025 edition