Opinion ID: 2823813
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Heading: Claim for Relief in a Change of Water Right Application

Text: Â¶16Â Â Â Â Â Â Â We now examine what constitutes a claim for relief in a change of water right case. The General Assembly has defined a âwater rightâ as a âright to use in accordance with its priority a certain portion of the waters of the state by reason of the appropriation of the same.â Â§ 37-92-103(12), C.R.S. (2014). One must own a water right in order to change it. Bd. of Cnty. Commârs v. Upper Gunnison River WaterÂ Conservancy Dist., 838 P.2d 840, 855 (Colo. 1992) (concluding that only the owner of a decreed water right has the requisite legal interest to obtain a change in the water right and that a contrary view would undermine the rights and obligations acquired by persons granted decrees as the result of water adjudications). Shares of stock in a mutual ditch company represent a pro-rata ownership in the water right of the company. Midway Ranches, 938 P.2d at 525; Jacobucci v. Dist. Court, 541 P.2d 667, 672 (Colo. 1975). Property rights in water are unique in that they are usufructuary; ownership of the resource remains in the public, and a right to use water exists within the limitations of Coloradoâs prior appropriation doctrine. See Colo. Const. art XVI, Â§ 5; Â§ 37-92-103(12); see also Kobobel v. Colo. Depât of Natural Res., 249 P.3d 1127, 1130 (Colo. 2011) (explaining that a vested priority date has always been subject to the rights of senior water right holders, as well as the amount of water available in the tributary system under Coloradoâs prior appropriation doctrine).Â Â¶17Â Â Â Â Â Â Â A change of water right application 4 is considered to be a complaint under C.R.C.P. 15, and a statement of opposition is considered to be a responsive pleading. 5 Colo. Unif. Water Ct. R. 4(a). Correspondingly, the âclaimâ in a change of water right application is the aggregate of operative facts that give rise to the right to a change decree. Â¶18Â Â Â Â Â Â Â A water right owner may apply to change the type of use, location of use, time of use, and/or point of diversion of a water right. 6 The change of water right must be adjudicated into a change decree, and its issuance is subject to a two-step factual inquiry into: (1) the scope, measure, and limit of the water right proposed to be changedÂ and (2) the conditions necessary to protect against injury to other decreed water rights . Empire Lodge Homeownersâ Assân v. Moyer, 39 P.3d 1139, 1147 (Colo. 2001). Â¶19Â Â Â Â Â Â Â First, the right to a decree changing the usufructuary right is limited in quantity and time by the appropriatorâs actual historical beneficial use. Farmers Reservoir & Irrigation Co. v. Consol. Mut. Water Co., 33 P.3d 799, 807 (Colo. 2001); Weibert v. Rothe Bros., 618 P.2d 1367, 1371â72 (Colo. 1980); see also Â§Â§ 37-92-103(5), 37-92-302, 37-92-305(3)â(4), C.R.S. (2014). Quantification of the amount of water beneficially consumed guards against rewarding wasteful practices or recognizing water claims that the nature and extent of the appropriatorâs need do not justify. Santa Fe Trail Ranches Prop. Owners Assân. v. Simpson, 990 P.2d 46, 54â55 (Colo. 1999). Indeed, actual application of the water to the appropriatorâs beneficial use becomes the basis, measure, and limit of the right. Id. at 53. An applicant must be able to show the legal extent of its water right interest before it can be changed to ensure that no injury occurs in the process. 7 Widefield Water & Sanitation Dist. v. Witte, 2014 CO 81, Â¶ 20, 340 P.3d 1118, 1124 (â[W]hen the owner of a water right files an application to change its use, the water court scrutinizes proposed alterations to existing decreed rights that may injure other decreed water rights.â (internal quotation marks omitted)). Â¶20Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The second part of the water courtâs inquiry concerns the decree conditions necessary to ensure that the change will not injuriously affect other decreed waterÂ rights. 8 Thus, a change decree contains conditions that differ from those contained in the prior decree. This two-step examination facilitates transfers of water rights, allows continued application of the appropriated water to specified beneficial uses at identified locations, and ensures that a valid appropriation will continue in effect under provisions in the change decreeâwhile maintaining return flow patterns, alleviating material injury to other water rights, and preventing enlargement of the water right. High Plains A & M, LLC v. Se. Colo. Water Conservancy Dist., 120 P.3d 710, 718â19, 721 (Colo. 2005).