Colorado Water Law and Water Rights

Navigating through the complex water laws of our state can be a challenge. However, our library can help. Our collection contains a number of publications that can help Coloradans understand water law and water rights in our state:

• Citizen’s Guide to Colorado Water Law (Colorado Foundation for Water Education, 2004).
• Colorado Citizens’ Water Law Handbook (Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, 1991).
• Colorado Water Law for Non-Lawyers (University Press of Colorado, 2009).
• Colorado Water Laws: A Compilation of Statutes, Regulations, Compacts and Selected Cases (Colorado State University, 1979).
• Glossary of Water Terminology (Colorado State University Extension, 2012).
• Ground Water Atlas of Colorado (Colorado Geological Survey, 2003).
• Groundwater Law Sourcebook of the Western United States (University of Colorado School of Law, 2003).
• A Guide to Colorado Water Law (Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, 1978).
• Guide to Colorado Well Permits, Water Rights, and Water Administration (Colorado Division of Water Resources, 2012).
• History of Water Rights in Colorado (website from the Colorado Office of the State Engineer).
• A Land Made from Water: Appropriation and the Evolution of Colorado’s Landscape, Ditches, and Water Institutions (University Press of Colorado, 2015).
  
• Non-Attorney’s Guidebook to Colorado Water Courts (Colorado Supreme Court, 2008).
• State Water Policy (Colorado Legislative Council, 2010).
• Summary of Laws of the Seventeen Western Reclamation States (Colorado Water Conservation Board, 1973).
• Synopsis of Colorado Water Law (Colorado Office of the State Engineer, 2011).
• Vranesh’s Colorado Water Law (University Press of Colorado, 1999).
• Water Quality and Water Rights in Colorado (Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, 1989).

This is just a sampling of the hundreds of documents in our collection relating to water law and water rights in our state. Search our library’s web catalog for additional publications and resources.