HB 17-1291

HB 17-1291 is a Colorado bill that allows water rights holders to store their water in any reservoir within the same ditch or reservoir system without needing additional legal approval, as long as they notify officials and account for water losses along the way. This change benefits farmers and other water users who already have quantified water rights and want more flexibility in where they can store their water. Since the bill has been signed into law, it is now enforceable and will affect how these water rights holders manage their water storage going forward.

Official Summary

Current law allows water to be stored only at a location that has been specifically identified in a decree. The bill allows a water right for which the historical consumptive use was previously quantified to be stored in any reservoir, without the necessity of adjudicating an additional change of water right, if: The water will be diverted from a point of diversion that has already been decreed for that water right and the alternate place of storage is located on the same ditch or reservoir system; Previous notice is given to the division engineer; Transit and ditch losses are assessed from the decreed point of diversion to the alternate place of storage; The division engineer approves the proposed accounting of the storage; and The water was not imported from another water division.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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