New Division 6 Hydrographer/Measurement Role Coordinator Jacob Olsen made a splash at the recent event focusing on Moffat County’s water resources.

At the Colorado River District’s annual State of the River gathering Tuesday, Olsen shared updates on new measurement rules and upcoming compliance deadlines in 2025 and 2026 for various water structures and reservoirs, including specific exemptions and requirements to meet regulatory standards.

According to Olsen, structures diverting greater than or equal to 5 cubit feet per second, or cfs, must comply by Jan. 16, 2025; structures diverting between 2-5 cfs must comply by July 16, 2025; and structures diverting less than 2 cfs must comply by Jan. 16, 2026.

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Reservoirs with a capacity or total water rights greater than or equal to 5 acre feet must comply by Jan. 16, 2025, while reservoirs with a capacity or total water rights less than 5 acre feet must comply by Jan. 16, 2026.

He noted there are some exceptions to the new rules.

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Exceptions for wells include typical household wells (15 gallons per minute or less) that serve no more than three single-family dwellings, irrigate less than an acre, serve exclusively fire fighting purposes (fire hydrants), are used for drinking and sanitation purposes for commercial businesses or observation/monitoring wells.

For ponds, those used for the limited purposes of livestocks, wildfire watering, fire protection or any combination thereof that do not intercept groundwater and are not filled by a diversion from a natural stream can be exempted. An example of this would be a natural pond with no irrigation.

Heat stabilization ponds that store water for more than 72 hours and erosion control dams with normally dry drainage that are less than 15 feet tall and store less than 10 acre feet may also be exempted.

Olsen acknowledged that “most people are probably concerned about their surface water diversions.”

He shared that exceptions for such diversions include springs that are diverted at less than 15 gallons per minute (0.33 cfs) and are used for the limited purposes of domestic use in no more than three single-family dwellings, fire protection, watering of domestic animals, the irrigation of no more than one acre of home gardens and lawns, livestock watering on farms and ranches, wildlife watering or any combination thereof.

Olsen noted that inactive structures can also be excepted. But for the structure to be declared inactive, a Structure Inactivation Form must be filed. The structure will remain exempt until reactivated, and in order to do so, written notice must be provided to the division engineer.

Olsen said he wants to ensure that “reservoirs don’t get overlooked” and also spent time discussing on-stream and off-stream reservoir requirements.

Water users interested in receiving additional information or assistance were encouraged to attend one of the upcoming workshop planned for the region.

The workshops will delve deeper into all the aspects of the updated rules and cover proper installation for measuring devices and head-gate improvement.

The Craig workshop will be 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday at the Moffat County Fairgrounds.

Additional workshops will be Monday in Oak Creek, Wednesday in Walden, Thursday in Meeker and April 18 in Rangely. There will also be a virtual workshop option that will be recorded following the conclusion of the in-person workshops, with the date for release to be determined.