Colorado/Douglas County Water basics:

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Colorado water law, “first in time, first in line”, is  simple in concept but complex in application.:

• Water from deep aquifers originally belongs to the owner of the above surface, but over time many of those deep rights have been sold and separated from the surface owner. Those deep aquifer rights may be used and reused to extinction.

• Water that falls as rain or snow is owned by the stream of natural drainage. You do not own the water that falls on your house.

• Water that is pumped from a stream or from alluvial wells along the stream are subject to priority rights of owners of rights clear up the Platte to Nebraska. Water taken from streams when not in priority must be replaced in the stream with reclaimed return flows. When reservoirs are full and no downstream priorities exist, the river is declared a “FREE RIVER” and a provider may withdraw and use to use to extinction water from up stream creeks or rivers.

• "Buy and Dry" is when a water provider buys agriculture land, stops production and transfers water to municipal use. This is a costly and lengthy process requiring justified use.

• For use by a municipal water provider, agriculture water rights must go through water court adjudication. This process can be costly and take years. There must be substantiated need of use and specific population needing the water. Speculation is forbidden.   

• Math and record keeping of the above is challenging.

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Three water providers, Castle Rock utilities, Centennial (Highlands Ranch) and Parker Water (not part of Parker the town) provide more than 70% of Douglas County residents with their water. Pinery Water and Sanitation and Dominion (Sterling Ranch) serve perhaps another 10%. The balance of county residents are served by more than 20 smaller water districts and deep aquifer wells.