HB 16-1382 Summary

• Overturns the Colorado Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in St. Jude's Co. v. Roaring Fork Club, LLC that deemed water diversions for aesthetic, recreational, and piscatorial purposes without impoundment to be non-beneficial uses.

• Amends the definition of "beneficial use" in Colorado law to explicitly include diversion, impoundment, or release from storage of water for piscatorial, recreational, aesthetic, firefighting, and wildlife purposes.

• Confirms that all water rights decrees entered before, on, or after the bill's effective date for these purposes shall be given full effect and enforced according to their specific terms.

• Applies to pending water rights applications and those filed on or after the bill's effective date.

• Includes a safety clause declaring the act necessary for immediate preservation of public peace, health, and safety.