Last verified
How a water right gets adjudicated
Adjudication is the court case that turns a use of water into a legally recognized right. You file an application with the water clerk; it publishes in the monthly resume; anyone affected has until the end of the second following month to oppose; a referee rules; and if nobody protests within 21 days, the ruling becomes a decree. C.R.S. §§ 37-92-302 to -304
Crucially, the decree does not create your priority. It recognizes a priority you already earned by putting water to beneficial use — which is why decrees routinely carry appropriation dates decades older than the case.
Appropriation first, adjudication second
Colorado rights come into existence when water is actually applied to a beneficial use. The court's job is to confirm what already happened and fix its place in line:
In the determination of a water right the priority date awarded shall be that date on which the appropriation was initiated if the appropriation was completed with reasonable diligence. If the appropriation was not completed with reasonable diligence following the initiation thereof, then the priority date thereof shall be that date from which the appropriation was completed with reasonable diligence.
You can see the gap in the records. The Boulder and Larimer County Irrigating and Manufacturing Ditch appropriated on June 30, 1875 and was adjudicated on May 28, 1883 — eight years later, with the earlier date controlling. DWR · WDID 0400588 · verified Jul. 2026
What you file
An application for a determination of a water right is a verified pleading, on forms the water judges prepare jointly. The statute specifies the minimum content:
In the case of applications for a determination of a water right or a conditional water right, the forms shall require, among other things, a legal description of the diversion or proposed diversion, a description of the source of the water, the date of the initiation of the appropriation or proposed appropriation, the amount of water claimed, and the use or proposed use of the water.
In practice you will also need engineering: measurements or reliable estimates of what you actually diverted and used, evidence of the date the appropriation was initiated, and a map. The claim you can prove is what you get.
The steps, with their deadlines
| Step | Timing | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| File verified application with the water clerk | Any time | § 37-92-302(1)(a) |
| Clerk prepares and publishes the resume | By the 15th of the following month | § 37-92-302(3)(a) |
| Statements of opposition filed | Last day of the second month after filing | § 37-92-302(1)(c) |
| Referee rules, or rerefers to the judge | Within 63 days of the opposition deadline | § 37-92-303(1) |
| Protest a referee ruling | Within 21 days of mailing | § 37-92-304(2) |
| Water judge sets contested matters | Twice yearly, on the division's statutory Tuesdays | § 37-92-304(1) |
Those are the statutory minimums. A genuinely contested case — especially a change of water right or an augmentation plan — commonly takes one to three years, because the parties are litigating engineering, not law.
Opposition is the normal state of affairs
The referee investigates, consults the division engineer, and may disapprove an application in whole or in part even where no one has opposed it C.R.S. § 37-92-303(1). Where oppositions are filed, the applicant must circulate a proposed ruling or decree designed to prevent injury before any hearing on the merits, and if injury is still found, the parties get an opportunity to propose terms and conditions that would cure it C.R.S. § 37-92-305(3)(a).
That structure is why most water cases settle into a negotiated decree with a long list of conditions rather than going to trial. The conditions are the outcome.
What you end up with
The referee's ruling — and then the decree — states the applicants, the location of the point of diversion or place of storage, the means of diversion, the type of use, and the amount and priority C.R.S. § 37-92-303(1). For an augmentation plan it must include a complete statement of the plan as approved.
That document is the governing instrument for the right from then on. It is what the division engineer administers, what a buyer's engineer will analyze, and what you will be held to. Reading a decree walks through one line by line.
What adjudication cannot do
- It cannot manufacture water. A decree on an over-appropriated stream may be legally perfect and still yield nothing, because every drop is claimed by seniors. See whether you can still get a new right.
- It cannot expand a historical use. In a change case the measure is historical consumptive use, not the decreed rate.
- It does not reach exempt wells or designated groundwater basins, which are administered by the State Engineer and the Ground Water Commission instead.
The rest of the legal section covers the court itself, the plans that make junior water usable, and when to bring in counsel.
Common questions
How do you adjudicate a water right in Colorado?
File a verified application with the water clerk for your division. The clerk publishes it in the monthly resume; anyone who may be affected can file a statement of opposition by the last day of the second month after filing; a water referee then rules, and the ruling becomes a decree unless someone protests within 21 days. The process is set out in C.R.S. §§ 37-92-302 to -304.
Does adjudication create my priority date?
No. Under C.R.S. § 37-92-305(1) the priority date awarded is the date the appropriation was initiated, provided it was completed with reasonable diligence. The decree recognizes a right that already exists — which is why many decrees carry appropriation dates decades earlier than the case.
How long does a Colorado water court case take?
An uncontested application can conclude within roughly six months of filing under the statutory timetable. Contested cases, particularly changes of water right and augmentation plans, commonly take one to three years because the dispute is about engineering — historical consumptive use, depletions and return flows.
What happens if nobody opposes my application?
It still gets scrutinized. C.R.S. § 37-92-303(1) allows the referee to disapprove an application in whole or in part in their discretion even though no statements of opposition have been filed. The referee consults the division engineer and investigates independently.
Primary sources
- C.R.S. § 37-92-302 — applications, resume, oppositions (Title 37, official text) C.R.S. 2025 edition
- C.R.S. § 37-92-303 — rulings by the referee (Title 37, official text) C.R.S. 2025 edition
- C.R.S. §§ 37-92-305 and -306 — standards and postponement (Title 37, official text) C.R.S. 2025 edition
- Colorado DWR HydroBase — WDID 0400588 net amounts 1875 appropriation, 1883 adjudication; verified July 22, 2026