JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

December 2005

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Colorado Supreme Court Upholds State Engineers’ Order Requiring Ditch Owner to Install Suitable Headgate to Prevent Excess Diversions from Purgatorie River
Tatum v. People ex rel. Simpson and Witte, ___P.3d___

In a decision rendered November 7, 2005, the Colorado Supreme Court held that the owner of a decreed water right must maintain a suitable headgate on the river to prevent diverting more than his entitled water. This case raises, but does not answer, questions as to whether ditch owners in Colorado may divert more than their decreed amounts when there is no “call” or administration on the river system.