New Colorado legislation regarding water wells: So you have an unregistered well – now what do you do?

Effective January 1, 2009, The Division of Water Resources must receive a well transfer form for all small capacity wells or domestic exempt wells that are sold (or transferred) in any real estate transaction. All transferred water rights need to be reported, except those water rights represented by stock in a ditch company.

House Bill 08-1014 was passed by the Colorado General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Ritter and will assist the Division in more accurate recordkeeping regarding well ownership. Current information is necessary for the State to notify well owners of any health, safety, water right or stewardship issues pertaining to their ground water well.

The new Residential Real Estate Contract requires the Buyer to complete a Change in Ownership Form for the well and submit the form within 60 days. If a person provides closing services, that person is required within 60 days of the closing, to send that information or as much information as is available on the well, and the Division will follow up with the buyer.

IF THE WELL IS NOT REGISTERED, the buyer cannot fill out a transfer form, (which is only for registered wells) and is required to complete a Registration of an Existing Well Form. There may be several unregistered wells throughout Colorado that were constructed and in use prior to May 8, 1972, the time that registration was required.

If you are dealing with one of those wells, it is important to discuss this issue prior to closing so the parties are aware that the well will need to be registered. The present charge is $100.00 to the State, and there will be an additional fee for a well production report, from an independent company, in your area.

In order to register the well, you have to describe the use of the water, the date of first beneficial use by the original owner, the total depth of the well, the pumping rate in gallons per minute, the annual amount of water diverted in acre-feet, and the area of lawn and/or garden irrigation.

Once you have all this information, together with a copy of the buyer's deed, and $100.00. the Registration form is ready to be sent to the State of Colorado, Office of the State Engineer. You must schedule an inspection with the Division office where your well is located. You can also get more information by calling your division, or visiting their web site at http://www.water.state.co.us

So what do you do if you have an unregistered well? Get busy! There are many steps in the process and you may need to ask your title company or your county assessor to see if they can help you search back to find the original owner..... (?)

For the first time, I will be working with my buyer on getting her well registered. If you have any information that I missed, please pass it along!