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The Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority has compiled this glossary of terms to help the public understand the words and terms that are used in discussions and written reports about water and water law. Many of the definitions also have links to other sources where you can secure more information. This glossary is intended to always be a "work in progress" because many of the terms are legal terms that can be changed by state law or judicial decisions. If there is a term that we have not included, please let us know by emailing us at rgbscuba@aol.com. For quick navigation, please use the following alphabet:
Abandonment: refers to the loss of all or a portion of a water right following a specified period of time during which the water right was not used. One of the responsibilities of the State Water Engineer is to periodically compile and publish a list of water rights that are considered to be abandoned. However, for a water right to be legally declared to be abandoned it must be officially designated by a water court. Acre foot: a very common measurement of the volume of water. An acre foot (often abbreviated af) is the amount of water needed to cover one acre of land one foot deep in water. An acre foot is equal to 325,851 gallons of water; 43,560 cubic feet of water; or 1,233 cubic meters of water. Adjudication: a legal term used in water law it means the judicial process undergone to determine the priority and extent of the rights to persons to use the water in a river or an aquifer system. Alluvial aquifer: a type of aquifer that is formed by materials deposited by the physical action in a stream or river or on a flood plain. Alluvial plain: a type of land surface formed by extensive deposit of alluvium and generally found adjacent to a stream or river that periodically overflows its banks. Alluvial plains can be level, slightly sloping or gently rolling topography. Alluvium: refers to the unconsolidated clays, silts, sands or gravels that have been deposited in various geologic times by running water in the bed of a stream or river or on its flood plain. Appropriation: a legal term used in water law it means the placement of a specified portion of the waters of Colorado to a beneficial use in a manner that complies with Colorado water law. Arapahoe Aquifer: means one of the four aquifers that underlie the Denver Basin, the Arapahoe Aquifer is the third aquifer from the surface and underlies approximately 4,700 square miles. Members of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority located in northern El Paso County use this aquifer. The Arapahoe Aquifer lies deeper than the Dawson Aquifer and the Denver Aquifer but shallower than the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer. Arkansas River Compact: means the 1948 interstate compact between Colorado and Kansas to regulate the apportionment of the waters of the Arkansas River between the two states. Aquifer: a water bearing geologic formation, or a series of formations, that is saturated with water and can be used a source of water supply. Aquifer yield: the maximum amount of water withdrawal from an aquifer that can be sustained by that aquifer. Artesian aquifer: a type of aquifer in which groundwater is confined in the aquifer at a pressure that is substantially higher than atmospheric pressure. Generally the pressure is the result of the weight of water at higher levels in the same zone of the aquifer and causes the water to rise above the level of the aquifer in a well or some natural fissure. Artesian aquifers are usually bounded above and below by beds of less permeable rock than the aquifer rock. Artesian well: a well that is bored into an aquifer in which the ground water is under pressure. If the pressure on the water is high enough that the water rises above the land surface, the well is referred to as a flowing artesian well. This same principle applies to artesian springs. Artificial recharge: the process of deliberately adding water to an aquifer by means of some form of recharge such as injection wells, spreading basins or other techniques that result in water from one or more surface sources being placed into the aquifer. Augmentation plan: a legal term in water law it means a court approved plan that allows a water user to divert water out of priority under the condition that adequate replacement water is made available to prevent any injury to the water rights of any other rightful users of the water. Bamberger Study: means the study commissioned by the Board of Directors of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority to investigate the fiscal interrelationship between the core city of Colorado Springs and the suburban economic centers. The study was conducted by Dave Bamberger and Associates and the entire study report may be viewed on our Issues Page. Basin Roundtables: means the nine separate roundtables that have been established for each of the state's major river basins, and a "Metro Roundtable" for the Denver metropolitan area. These Basin Roundtables facilitate discussions on water issues and encourage locally developed collaborative solutions for water related issues. The members of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority participate in the Arkansas Basin Roundtable. For more information, please visit the Interbasin Compact Committee web site. Basin Yield: the maximum rate of withdrawal that can be accomplished by the entire hydrogeological system in a basin without impairing the hydraulic head anywhere in that system or causing harm to any other component of the hydrologic cycle in that basin. Beneficial use: a legal term in water law it means the actual use of water that provides a benefit. Water rights which are not put to a beneficial use run the risk of being forfeited. Call: a legal term in water law it means action taken by an appropriator of water for the water to which he is entitled under his water decree. A “call” by a senior appropriator may result in appropriators who are junior in right being required to cease or reduce their use of water in order to satisfy the demands of the senior appropriator who invoked the “call.” Colorado Geological Survey: means the state agency whose mission it is to help reduce the impact of geologic hazards on the citizens of Colorado, to promote responsible economic development of mineral and energy resources, provide geologic insight into water resources, provide avalanche safety training and forecasting, and to provide geologic advice and information to a variety of constituencies. For more information, please visit the Colorado Geological Survey web site. Colorado Ground Water Commission: means the regulatory and adjudicatory body authorized by the General Assembly to manage and control designated ground water resources within the State of Colorado. Currently the Colorado Ground Water Commission has established 8 Designated Ground Water Basins. For more information, please visit the web site for the Colorado Ground Water Commission. Colorado River Compact: means the interstate compact among the states of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico (collectively the "upper basin states), California, Arizona and Nevada (collectively the "lower basin states") that governs the allocation of waters from the Colorado River to each of the states. Colorado Water Conservation Board: means the agency created by the General Assembly that is tasked with ensuring that the waters of the state are used wisely and to preserve water supply resources for future generations. The members are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the State Senate, and the Board is structured to represent each of the major river basins. The Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority is represented by the member appointed from the Arkansas River Basin. For more information, please visit the web site for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority: means the agency created by state statute to provide low cost financing of water related infrastructure projects to municipalities and special districts. Tax-exempt government bonds are issued and are coupled with federal government grants to provide the capital necessary to offer low interest rate loans. The Authority is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors appointed to four-year terms by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. The Board members are chosen geographically from the eight major drainages basins around the state and from the City and County of Denver. The Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority is represented by the Director appointed from the Arkansas River Basin. For more information, please visit the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority web site. Compact: a legal agreement among two or more states to apportion and manage the water in a river basin in certain ways. Compacts require the ratification of the US Congress. Compact call: similar to the term “call” but applied to the terms of the compact. Under a compact call, a state may take action to secure delivery of the water to which it is entitled under the terms of the compact even if satisfying that delivery means that other states may be required to cease or reduce diversions from the river. Conditional water right: a legal term in water law it means the legal preservation of a priority date that provides the user time to develop a water right while reserving a more senior date. A conditional water right cannot become an absolute right until the water is put to a beneficial use. Cone of depression: a term used with the operation of water wells it means the cone shaped depression in the water table surrounding a well or a group of wells and is caused by withdrawing the water more rapidly than it can recover. Confined aquifer: means an aquifer that is bounded both above and below by confining layers of material. Because of the pressure created in a confined aquifer, the water level in a well that has been drilled into the confined aquifer will rise above the top of the aquifer and can, if the pressure is great enough, rise above the surface of the land. Conjunctive use: means the coordinated use of surface water and groundwater to meet user needs so that both supplies are used more efficiently and productively than would occur if either was used alone. Conservation: means the strategy of using water supplies in a manner that maximizes efficiency of use while eliminating or minimizing waste or inefficient use. For more information about the water conservation strategies and policies of the members of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority, please see our Conservation web page on this web site. Consumptive use: means the portion of water withdrawn from and lost to the immediate surface or groundwater supplies. Not all consumptive use is caused by humans, natural consumptive use occurs through evaporation and transpiration. Conveyance loss: means the portion of water that is lost in transit from a pipe, canal, conduit or ditch through leakage and evaporation. Cubic foot per second (cfs): is a common measurement of water flow rates in a running stream or taken as a direct diversion from the stream. Water flowing at 1 cfs will deliver 448.8 gallons a minute, or 648,000 gallons per day. 1 cfs will flow slightly less than 2 acre feet of water per day. Dawson Aquifer: means the shallowest of the four aquifers that underlie the Denver Basin. The Dawson Aquifer underlies approximately 1,400 square miles of the Denver Basin. The Dawson Aquifer lies above the Denver Aquifer, the Araphaoe Aqufier and the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer. Decree: a legal term in water law it means the official court document issued by a court that defines the priority, amount of water, use of water and location of a water right. Denver Aquifer: means the second shallowest of the four aquifers that underlie the Denver Basin. The Denver Aquifer underlies approximately 3,500 square miles of the Denver Basin. The Denver Aquifer lies below the Dawson Aquifer and above the Arapahoe Aquifer and the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer. Denver Basin: means the four aquifers consisting of the Dawson Aquifer, the Denver Aquifer, the Arapahoe Aquifer and the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer as classifed by the State Engineer in order to administer their use as ground water supplies. The boundaries of the Denver Basin and its component aquifers are defined by the State Engineer and use of the aquifers is subject to the jurisdiction of the State Engineer. The Denver Basin, while a hydrogelogic phenomenon, is also an administrative entity subject to the control of the Colorado General Assembly which maintains absolute authority over the allocation of the waters of the Denver Basin. Generally, the Denver Basin as it is defined underlies much of eastern Colorado from the foothills on the west to Greeley on the north to Limon on the east and to Colorado Springs on the South. The Denver Basin is a critical source of water supply for the members of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority located in northern El Paso County. For more information on the Denver Basin, please see our Power Point presentation (Denver Basin - link to be added.) Denver Basin Groundwater: means the groundwater supplied by the Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe and Laramie-Fox Hills aquifers that underlie the Front Range in the geographic area generally described as from the foothills on the west to Greeley on the north to Limon on the east and to Colorado Springs on the south. In addition to being a hydrogeologic structure, the Denver Basin is also a legally defined basin subject to several statutory governance measures and administration by the State Engineer. Depletion: means the use of water in a way that makes that water no longer available to other users within the same water supply system. Designated basin: means a geographic area in which the groundwater is legally presumed to impact the major surface river basin to which the groundwater in the designated basin would otherwise be tributary. Designated
groundwater: means groundwater areas not adjacent to a continuously
flowing natural stream, where groundwater has been the principal source
of water supply for at least 15 years prior to the designation of the
groundwater basin. Designated groundwater is subject to regulation by
the Colorado Groundwater Commission. Diversion: means the removal of water from its natural course or location by means of a physical structure such as a ditch, pipeline, conduit, pump, reservoir or well. In recent years, state law has been changed to allow the Colorado Water Conservation Board to appropriate instream flows of water without a diversion and to allow local governments to make in-channel diversions for recreational purposes under specified circumstances and conditions. Domestic well use: means water used for drinking and other purposes by a household. Drainage basin: means the part of the surface of the land covered by a drainage system composed of a surface stream or body of surface water (lake, reservoir, etc.) and all of the tributaries to the stream or body of water. Drought Information Center: means the informational resource sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States Government. It provides ongoing information abouit drought conditions throughout the United States. For more information, please visit the Drought Information Center web site. Effluent: means any substance, usually a liquid, that enters the environment from a physical point. Most often used with respect to a wastewater treatment plant or an industrial plant. Evaporation: means the natural process of liquid water converting to vapor from water surfaces, land surfaces and snowfields – but not from the leaves of plants. The evaporation from the leaves of plants is called transpiration. Evapotranspiration: means the natural process of water moving into the atmosphere from both evaporation and transpiration. Fallowing - Crop Rotation: means a land use and irrigation farming strategy that allows the holders of agricultural water rights to take some acreage out of production and lease that component part of the water to other users, such as municipalities, while maintaining legal ownership of the water right. The strategy is the cornerstone of the Super Ditch project that is under consideration. Flow: means the volume of water that moves past a point during a specified period of time. Groundwater: means the underground water that is generally found in the porous spaces of rocks and sediments and that can be collected through the use of wells, tunnels or other means or that flows naturally to the surface of the land through springs or seeps. Groundwater basin: means a geologically and hydrogeologically defined area that contains one or more aquifers that contain water and which can be used to support well diversions of the water. Groundwater mining: means the process of pumping groundwater from an aquifer at a rate which exceeds the ability of the aquifer to recharge. Headgate: means a physical structure on a stream through which water in the stream is diverted into a ditch. Headwater: means one or more small streams that are the first and smallest tributaries of a river or stream. Hydraulically connected: means the ability of groundwater to move with relative ease between aquifers that are in direct contact with each other. Hydrologic cycle: means the complete cycle that water passes through beginning as atmospheric water vapor that turns into precipitation and falls to the earth’s surface and then moves into aquifers or surface water and then returns to the atmosphere through the process of evapotranspiration. Hydrology: means the study of water and the hydrologic cycle. Hydrology addresses both groundwater and surface water, whereas hydrogeology focuses primarily on groundwater. Injection well: means a well that is used for injecting water or some other fluid into an aquifer. Injury: means the action that is taken by someone that either causes or may cause the holders of decreed water rights to suffer a loss or impairment of the water to which they are otherwise entitled to use under their water rights if the action had not occurred. Instream use: means the use of water which does not require either withdrawal or diversion from the natural watercourse. Examples of instream use include support of fish and wildlife, recreational uses and navigational uses. Interbasin Compact Committee: means the state-wide committee that will address issues between basins. For more information, please visit the Interbasin Compact Committee web site. Interbasin transfer: means the transfer of water from one basin to another basin. Irrigation district: means a legal entity organized and operated under state law that has defined geographic boundaries and is used to develop and operate large irrigation projects. Irrigation use: means the application of water to crops. Junior appropriator right: means the holder of a surface or groundwater right that was acquired after other water rights on the same stream or aquifer. Except for the first appropriated water right on a stream or an aquifer, all other water rights are “junior” and form a hierarchy of rights based on the date that the right was decreed. Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer: means the deepest of the four aquifers that underlie the Denver Basin. The Laramie- Fox Hills Aquifer underlies approximately 6,700 square miles. It lies below the Dawson Aquifer, the Denver Aquire and the Arapahoe Aquifer. Lower
Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District:
means the water conservation district was formed to acquire, retain,
and conserve
native water
flowing in the Arkansas River and its tributaries; to insure that such
water remain in the valley for the socio-economic benefit of the citizens
of Pueblo, Otero, Crowley, Bent and Prowers Counties; and to participate
in water-related projects that will embody thoughtful conservation, responsible
growth, and beneficial water usage within the Lower Arkansas Valley.
For more information concerning the district, please visit its web site: http://www.lavwcd.org/ Minimum streamflow requirement: means a water right decreed to the Colorado Water Conservation Board that requires a certain amount of water be maintained in a watercourse for the purpose of maintaining the environment. A minimum streamflow water right is not a “super” right and takes its position in the hierarch of rights even though no actual diversion of water is necessary for its purposes. Nonconsumptive use: means uses of water that leave the water available for other uses and users. Examples would be hydroelectric power generation and certain recreational uses such as kayaking. Nontributary groundwater: means groundwater that is outside the boundaries of any designated groundwater basin which, if withdrawn, will not deplete the flow of a natural stream at an annual rate greater than one-tenth of one percent of the annual rate of withdrawal over a period of 100 years. Not nontributary groundwater: means groundwater that is hydrologically connected to a surface stream system. Observation well: means a well that is used primarily for observing the elevation of the water table or to extract samples for water quality analysis. Percolation: means the natural process of gravity flow of water through saturated and unsaturated materials. Perennial flow: means year round flow. Potable: means water that is considered safe for domestic consumption and is drinkable. Preferred Storages Option Plan (PSOP): means the study of potential storage sites in the Arkansas Valley conducted by the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. The plan has yet to be finalized but remains an issue of discussion by policy makers. Currently, the plan focuses on changing how water is stored in Lake Pueblo, enlarging Lake Pueblo and enlarging Turquoise Lake. Prior appropriation: means the doctrine of law used in Colorado for prioritizing water rights on the basis of the dates that the appropriations were granted. Prior appropriation is the legal doctrine used in states west of the 100th prime meridian, except for Oregon and Washington. Priority: means the ranking of a water right vis-à-vis all other water rights on a stream system. Priority is determined by the year in which the application for the water right was filed. Priority is the key to the water administration system because it determines who may divert water for use during times when there is not enough water in the system to satisfy all users. Recharge: means the replenishment of groundwater in an aquifer whether through natural or artificial means. Recycled water: means water that is used one or more times sequentially before it returns to the hydrologic cycle. Republican River Compact: means the interstate compact entered into by the states of Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas in 1943 to govern the apportionment of waters from the Republican river among the three states. For more information, please visit the Republican River Water Conservation District web site. Return flow: means water that returns to streams and rivers after it has been applied to beneficial use. Reuter-Hess Reservoir: means the water storage reservoir owned and operated by the Parker Water and Sanitation District located about three miles southwest of downtown Parker on Newlin Gulch, which is a tributary drainage of Cherry Creek. Reverse osmosis: means a type of water treatment in which the raw water is forced through a membrane system to remove dissolved solids and to leave the water usable. The membrane system can be structured to filter out differing sizes of contaminants by using differing sizes of membrane filters. The use of reverse osmosis for water treatment is neither new nor unique. Reverse osmosis is used in applications from kidney dialysis, fruit and vegetable juice production, maple syrup production, reef aquariums and in sea water desalinization projects. Rio Grande River Compact: means the 1938 interstate compact among Colorado, Texas and New Mexico for the allocation of the waters of the Rio Grande River among the states. Saturated thickness: means the vertical thickness of an aquifer that is full of water. Semi-arid climate: means the type of climate in which receives 10-20 inches of precipitation a year. Senior appropriator: means the owner of a water right whose right was acquired prior to others holding water rights on the same system. Snowpack: means the accumulation of winter precipitation that falls in the mountains and then melts in the spring. The winter snowpack provides 80% of the state's surface water supplies. The snowpack can be described as the state's largest reservoir. South Platte River Compact: means the 1923 interstate agreement between Colorado and Nebraska to allocate the waters of the South Platte River between the two states. Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District: means the district that was created under Colorado State Statutes on April 29, 1958, by the District Court of Pueblo, Colorado, for the purpose of developing and administering the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. The District extends along the Arkansas River from Buena Vista to Lamar, and along Fountain Creek from Colorado Springs to Pueblo, Colorado. The District consists of parts of nine counties deriving benefits from the project. For more information, please visit the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District web site. Southern Delivery System (SDS): means the proposed water delivery system sponsored by the City of Colorado Springs, the City of Fountain, the Securtiy Water District and the Pueblo West Metropolitan District to deliver Fryingpan-Arkansas water and some non-Fryingpan-Arkansas water from the Arkansas River at a yet to be designated diversion point near Pueblo to the participants. Currently, the proposed project is undergoing environmental reviews. The only member of the PPRWA that is a participant in the SDS is the City of Fountain. State Engineer: means the person designated by state law to regulate, supervise and administer the water administrative system in Colorado. For more information concerning the jurisdictional authority and responsibilities of the State Engineer, please visit the web site of the Division of Water Resources. State Water Supply Initiative: means the studies that have been conducted under the supervision of the Colorado Water Conservation Board to estimate the amount of water used and needed in each of the major river basins. The first study, abbreviated SWSI I, was released to the public in November, 2004. The second study, abbreviated SWSI II, was released to the public in November, 2007. These two studies taken together are principle resources used by policy makers to assess the needs of their regions and to help shape their water resources policies. Both studies may be located on the web site of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Super Ditch: means a plan under consideration by the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District that would create a land fallowing, water lease management organization, nicknamed "Super Ditch", that would attempt to keep water rights in the hands of farmers, while allowing leases of part of their water to cities. Transmissivity: means the flow capacity of an aquifer measured in volume per a unit of time and per a unit of physical measurement such as width. Transpiration: means the natural process of water vaporization directly from plants. Tributary: means a surface water drainage system which is interconnected with a river system. Under Colorado statutes, all surface water and groundwater is considered tributary to a stream if the withdrawal of the water would affect the rate or direction of the flow of the stream within 100 years. Tributary groundwater: means all groundwater that is hydraulically connected to a surface stream and which, if pumped, would have a measurable impact on the surface stream within 100 years. Unconfined aquifer: means an aquifer that is not bounded above by materials that are lower in permeability than the aquifer and which will not allow the water to feed a spring or to be economically extracted through the use of a well. Water bank: means a program operating under the jurisdictional authority of the State Engineer in each of the state’s seven water divisions to facilitate the lease, exchange or loan of legally stored water as an alternative to the sale of water rights and which is designed to protect other water rights from being injured. Water court: means a specifically designated district court that has exclusive jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate issues of water law. There are seven water courts in Colorado corresponding to the major river basins. The judge who presides over a water court is a district court judge. For more information, please visit the Colorado Judicial Branch web site. Water right: means a property right to the use of a portion of the surface or ground waters of the state that was obtained through a water court. As a form of property right, water rights may be bought, sold, transferred, leased or undergo any other action that is common to general property rights. Watershed: means the area from which water drains and contributes to either a stream or a body of water. Water transfer: means a legal change in a water right. Water year: means the period of time commencing on October 1 of each year and ending on September 30 of the following year. It is used by the US Geological Survey to report surface water supplies. Well: means a vertical excavation into an aquifer or other underground formation to obtain groundwater. Wells are subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the State Engineer. WIPS: means the Water Infrastructure Planning Study conducted by the
members of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority to develop engineering
recommendations for the integration and efficient management of the water
supply systems owned and operated by the members. |
© 2007 Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority
