Last verified Jul. 2026

Buying land with water rights

Why physical evidence proves nothing

A ditch crossing the property, a headgate with the seller's name on it, a stock pond, a green pasture in July — none of these establish a water right. Ditches carry other people's water. Ponds get filled out of priority. Pastures get irrigated under leases that end. And the right that historically served the land may have been severed and sold to a city two decades ago while the infrastructure stayed exactly where it was.

The severability of water from land is the entire reason this page exists. It is also why the question is answerable: the state keeps the records, and they are free.

The checklist

1. Get the specifics in writing, before anything else

Ask the seller, in writing, for: the decree and case number, the priority date, the decreed amount and whether it is absolute or conditional, the decreed uses, the WDID of the structure, and whether the water is a decreed right or shares in a ditch company. A seller who cannot produce these has answered a different, more important question.

2. Verify it in the state's records yourself

Pull the structure's net amounts from DWR and compare every figure against what you were told DWR net amounts. Check the decreed uses in particular: a right decreed only for irrigation will not lawfully fill a pond or serve houses without a change case. Looking it up covers the tools; reading a decree covers the document.

3. Trace the chain of title for the water separately

Water deeds are recorded, but a title commitment on the land will not necessarily surface a severed water right or confirm one is included. Have the water's chain examined on its own, and confirm the recorded conveyances match the decree. If the water is ditch company stock, the certificate must be checked on the company's books — a deed does not move shares.

4. Ask the ditch company directly

If shares are involved, contact the company: confirm the certificate number, the number of shares, whether assessments are current, whether the shares are encumbered, and what the bylaws say about transfer and about changing use. Unpaid assessments and transfer restrictions are common and are routinely omitted from listings.

5. Establish how often the right is actually in priority

Ask the division engineer's office about the call history on the reach. A right that is out of priority most of the irrigation season is a very different asset from one that yields every year, whatever the decree says.

6. Check the wells, separately

Wells are their own inquiry. Get the permit number and read the permitted uses: a household-use-only permit prohibits outdoor irrigation entirely, and on a parcel under 35 acres that is the common case C.R.S. § 37-92-602(3)(b)(II)(A). See exempt wells and the 35-acre rule and how to search well permits.

7. Match the water to your actual plans

Write down what you intend to do — irrigate 20 acres, run 30 head, fill a pond, build three houses — and check each against the decreed uses and the well permit. Anything not covered needs a change case or a new permit, with cost and years attached C.R.S. § 37-92-103(5).

Contract terms worth insisting on

• Specific identification. The contract should list the decree, case number, amount, priority date, structure and WDID — not the phrase "all water rights appurtenant to the property."
• A diligence period long enough to do the work. Verifying water takes longer than a standard inspection window.
• A contingency on the water. If the water is a material part of the price, make the deal contingent on confirming it, and on the engineering if a change will be needed.
• Explicit share transfer obligations, if shares are involved — including who pays outstanding assessments and who executes the certificate transfer.
• Seller warranties about severance, leases and encumbrances.

What "dry land" is worth knowing about

Plenty of Colorado land is sold with no water at all, and that is fine as long as it is priced that way and your plans fit. Dry land can be grazed, built on with an exempt well where one can be permitted, and enjoyed. What ruins purchases is paying an irrigated-land price for dry land, or buying with plans that quietly require water nobody has.

If the water rather than the land is the real object, buy it directly instead — buying water rights covers that path, and what rights are worth covers pricing. The rest of buying and selling covers the market around both.