Firm Profile

For the majority of water resources in the State, the right to use water is based on the prior appropriation doctrine—“first in time, first in right.” Under this doctrine, which governs all of the State’s flowing streams and all groundwater hydrologically connected to those streams, the first person to appropriate water from the stream has the right to be fully satisfied before a later appropriator may take any water under his or her right. The State’s Water Courts are responsible for adjudicating issues related to these “tributary” waters.

Several classes of groundwater exist outside of the State’s tributary system, each with its own body of laws, regulations, policies and processes.  Designated Groundwater exists in “Designated Basins” established by the Colorado Ground Water Commission, located on Colorado’s eastern high plains.  The legal classifications of “Non-Tributary” and “Not-Non Tributary” govern water resources in the “Denver Basin,” a series of deep aquifers on Colorado’s Front Range.  Exempt wells for domestic and commercial uses are issued pursuant to rules and regulations created by the Colorado State Engineers.  Water produced in the course of mining and oil and gas exploration and production activities also has its own unique set of laws, regulations and case law.

The use of water in Colorado is dynamic—the law allows for new water rights to be appropriated and decreed and old water rights to be changed to new uses.  Professional legal advice from an attorney who is experienced and knowledgeable in all phases of Colorado water law is essential to protecting and enhancing your surface and ground water rights, whether those rights exist in the State’s tributary system, in a designated ground water basin, in the Denver Basin, or as non-tributary or exempt wells.

The attorneys at Lawrence Jones Custer Grasmick are among the most experienced and knowledgeable water lawyers in Colorado. We are proud of our track record of helping clients successfully complete complex water rights transactions and ensuring their existing rights are preserved and protected. We have adjudicated and settled some of the largest, most complex water cases in Colorado, but are also able to efficiently help clients make small changes or correction in their decrees or permits.  Lawrence Jones Custer Grasmick counsel strive to keep current on changes in Colorado’s regulatory environment, and are frequently at the forefront in developing areas of law and policy. We have the personnel and resources to provide high quality counsel, litigation assistance, and transactional services statewide.