Law Commons^™

Reviving The Public Ownership, Antispeculation, And Beneficial Use Moorings Of Prior Appropriation Water Law, Gregory J. Hobbs, Jr.

University of Colorado Law Review

This article addresses originating principles of Colorado prior appropriation water law and demonstrates how the Colorado Supreme Court has applied them in significant cases decided during the first decade of the twenty-first century, a sustained period of drought. These principles include public ownership of the water resource wherever it may be found within the state, allocation of available unappropriated surface water and tributary groundwater for appropriation by private and public entities in order of their adjudicated priorities, and the antispeculation and beneficial use limitations that circumscribe the amount and manner of use each water right is subject to. Demonstrating that …