The Colorado State Engineer has declared the White River Basin above the Taylor Draw Power Conduit at Taylor Draw Reservoir in northwest Colorado as over-appropriated. This designation, effective May 1, 2025, means that there is not enough water available to meet all existing water rights in the area during certain times of the year.
Water rights owners in the White River, which is part of the Colorado River basin and flows through Division 6 (Yampa, White, Green, and North Platte River Basins), have reported multiple years where they did not receive their full decreed water amounts. They requested that staff from the Colorado Division of Water Resources (DWR) curtail water usage—a process known as a “call.” There were calls on the White River upstream of Taylor Draw Power Conduit in December 2022 and July 2023. These events prompted Erin Light, DWR Division 6 Engineer, and her team to assess conditions and recommend this formal designation.
“Calls in the past few years have made it clear to me that the White River does not supply enough water to meet demands during part of the year, leading me to request this designation that will protect senior appropriators from future unreplaced well depletions,” said Light.
With this new status, any new non-exempt well permits above Taylor Draw Power Conduit will require an augmentation plan. An augmentation plan is a court-approved strategy allowing groundwater pumping if an equivalent amount of water is replaced from another source.
“This designation is part of the unfortunate story we’re seeing play out across the Upper Colorado River Basin,” said Jason Ullmann, Colorado State Engineer and Director of the Colorado Division of Water Resources. “Extended drought and hotter temperatures, made worse by climate change, means there’s less water to go around. Even very senior water rights holders aren’t getting their full supply. Designating the White River as over-appropriated will help ensure senior water rights are protected and not harmed by additional groundwater pumping, which can impact surface water supplies.”
As development continues in the basin, future holders of water rights will need to understand that those rights may be administered more frequently depending on hydrological conditions.
A memo detailing this decision is available for review.
