Water Terms
Abandonment:
A history of nonuse is cause for surrender of known water rights,
this can occur involuntarily over an extended period of non-use.
"Use it or lose it".
Absolute
water right: A right to use water to be put to beneficial
use with a specific priority date.
Acre-foot
(af): A standard unit of measure that covers one acre of land
to the depth of one foot.
Water Measurements
| Measurements |
Gallons
|
|
1
Cubic foot
Per Second (cfs)
|
7.48
per second
|
448.80
per minute
|
646,272
per day
|
|
1 Acre Foot
(af)
|
325,851
per acre |
43,560 cubic feet |
1 Gallon Per
Minute (gpm)
|
1,440
per day
|
Adjudication:
The procedure of hearing and settling the relative seniority rights
of a multitude of appropriations.
Appropriation:
The right to use water for a beneficial use, at a specific rate
of flow, for storage or immediate use, usually substantiated by
a decree.
Augmentation Plan: A plan that has been approved by the
court that allows for a diversion of water out of priority with
an adequate replacement for senior water rights preventing any
injury to other users.
Beneficial
Use: The application of water used efficiently without waste
for human or natural benefit.
Call:
A request for the use of a senior water right that often require
the holding of junior water rights to be able to deliver adequate
water downstream to senior users.
Colorado
Doctrine: Sometimes referred to as "First in time, first
in right" doctrine. See appropriation.
Consumptive
Use: The use of water that permanently removes water from
its natural source.
Cubic Feet
Per Second (cfs): A measurement of flow for smaller bodies
of water in which the volume of water one foot high, one foot
wide and one foot long passes by a given point in one second.
Decree:
An official ruling recognizing the right to use water that is
then administered by the Colorado Water Resources Department.
Direct
Flow: The diversion of water from a river or stream that is
intended for use without interruption
Drought:
An extended period of below average precipitation.
Exchange:
The replacement of a like amount of water for a diversion made
out of priority at one point and replaced at another.
Gallons
per Account per Day (GAD): A general term used to make an
approximation for the average amount of drinking water used by
a customer account on a daily basis.
Gallons
per Capita per Day (GCD): A general term used to approximate
the average amount of drinking / treated water used per person,
per day.
Ground
Water: The water that is found below the earth's surface.
Interstate
Compacts: A division of water in a river system that crosses
state boundaries. This contract is governed by state legislature.
Junior
Rights: Water rights that were established more recently than
senior rights.
Non-Consumptive
Use: Water that is not consumed by used and then still available
for other uses at the same place.
Potable:
Water that is considered safe for drinking and domestic use.
Prior Appropriation
Doctrine: A legal process for assigning the use of water to
the first person who applied to a beneficial use of the water.
The principle of "first in time, first in right."
Priority:
Those who applied first for the beneficial use of water have an
earlier appropriation and right to divert the water before those
with later appropriations.
Raw Water:
Water in its untreated form.
Reservoir:
A collection of water controlled by a dam or storage tank.
Return
Flow: The return of the unused portion of water to a stream
or river after a beneficial use.
Runoff:
Water flowing on the surface into rivers, streams and lakes.
Senior
Rights: Water that has a greater priority and has been claimed
the earliest.
Tap:
An individual water system connection to a public water distribution
connection.
Tributary:
A smaller river or stream that contributes to a larger body of
water.
Water Right:
A specified legal right to make beneficial use of water with a
specified priority date.
A Boulder Colorado
Realtor
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