News Article

In accordance with Rules 7.2, 7.3, 22 and 24.5 of the Rules Governing the Withdrawal of Groundwater in Water Division No. 3 (the Rio Grande Basin) and Establishing Criteria for the Beginning and End of the Irrigation Season in Water Division No. 3 for All Irrigation Water Rights, on May 22, 2025 the State Engineer provided notice of updated Response Functions based upon the RGDSS Phase 7 model to Well Users withdrawing groundwater pursuant to plans specified in Rule 6.1 for use in Well Users’ 2026 plans.

Effective 8/6/25, House Bill 25-1014 changed the expiration process on non-exempt and large capacity well permits.  House Bill 25-1165 provided updates to the Board of Examiners, Geothermal Notifications and established a new Registration Process for Prior Geothermal Operations.  Click the headline to read more.

On May 29, 2025, the Board of Examiners of Water Construction and Pump Installation Contractors formally adopted amended Rules and Regulations for Water Well Construction, Pump Installation, Cistern Installation, and Monitoring and Observation Well/Hole Construction (2 CCR 402-2).

The State Engineer has received a request for a hearing.  Any person who wishes to be added as a party to this hearing must follow the instructions in the Notice by 7/21/25.

DWR will be holding five hybrid stakeholder meetings to discuss proposed changes to the Ag-PWR Rules in July-August in Divisions 3-7.  Additional Details are available in the Public Notice Document.

The State Engineer has updated the Response Functions based upon the RGDSS Phase 7 model, version 7P101.  The Response Function calibration workbooks as well as the application workbooks are available on the Colorado Decision Support System RGDSS website.  The State Engineer is providing these Response Functions to Well Users withdrawing groundwater pursuant to plans specified in Rule 6.1 for use in Well Users’ 2026 plans.

(Durango) - Starting June 1, 2025, new rules governing the measurement of surface and groundwater diversions and storage will be in effect for Division 7. The division includes the San Juan and Dolores River basins. The rules do not apply to water users who obtain their water directly from a municipal provider, rural water supplier, or a ditch company, as those entities are required to have measurement where they divert from the stream or ground.

The Southern High Plains Groundwater Study Project Plan Draft is now available for review and open for public comments.  All comments should be submitted using the Project Plan Comment Form and must be received by June 15, 2025.

The Board of Examiners will hold a Public Rulemaking Hearing (May 27, 2025) to hear testimony on proposed amendments to the Rules and Regulations for Water Well Construction, Pump Installation, Cistern Installation, and Monitoring and Observation Well/Hole Construction.  The official notice is published on the Colorado Register.

An updated version of the RGDSS Model, version 7P101, was found to be reliable for determining groundwater use impacts by the Peer Review Team. The model files and supporting documentation are available on the Colorado Decision Support System RGDSS website. Please submit comments on this model to Marie Sullivan at marie.sullivan@state.co.us by May 8th, 2025.