Alamosa-La Jara Water Users Protection Association v. Gould
Colorado Supreme Court
674 P.2d 914 (1983)
- Written by Curtis Parvin, JD
Facts
The Colorado state engineer promulgated rules to limit surface-water and groundwater use in the San Luis Valley to meet an interstate agreement to allow scheduled amounts of Rio Grande water to flow to New Mexico. The rules included eliminating substantial well use unless the well owner, on an individual basis, could show that pumping from the well did not interfere with senior surface-water-rights holders or that the well owner offered—at the owner’s expense—an alternative source to augment the water available to the surface-water-rights holders. The appropriations from surface-water and artesian-well sources dated back to the 1850s. Over time, increased use of the wells reduced artesian pressures in the affected aquifers, reducing available surface water fed by artesian springs. Surface-water rights were overappropriated. Well owners (including Oliver Gould) (plaintiffs) objected to the rules and sought relief in the water court. The surface-water-rights holders (including the Alamosa-La Jara Water Users Protection Association) and the state engineer (defendants) opposed the action. The water court disapproved the state engineer’s groundwater rules, noting that state policy required maximizing water utilization. The state had failed to establish the impact of individual wells on the overall system. Therefore, the court held that the state engineer’s rules unfairly presume that a well necessarily negatively impacts senior surface-water-rights holders and that the well owner must therefore bear the cost of augmentation plans. The state engineer and the surface-water-rights holders appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Dubofsky, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.