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The overall Division of Wildlife (DOW) Water Section goal is to optimize water use for wildlife utilizing the following water management programs.

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As Colorado’s population continues to grow, Denver Water and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District are proposing to meet projected future water needs by developing new, annual firm yield from existing West Slope water rights that will be delivered to the Front Range.

Each project must receive a federal permit. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for permitting Denver Water's project, while the U.S Bureau of Reclamation has responsibility for Northern's project. Both Denver Water and Northern are developing mitigation plans to address impacts of the projects to fish and wildlife.

Colorado state statute gives the Colorado Wildlife Commission the opportunity to review fish and wildlife mitigation plans and work with the proponents to ensure that the plans adequately address project impacts on fish and wildlife resources. See the mitigation memo to the Colorado Wildlife Commission (PDF). The Division of Wildlife’s goal is to identify habitat management actions that will ensure a functioning river that supports fish and wildlife given anticipated future flow conditions. Restoring the river to a past condition is beyond the scope of the project approval process and Wildlife Commission authority.

Find information and resources related to the Wildlife Commission process, including a list of upcoming meetings where commissioners are seeking public comment, on the Mitigation Projects page.

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The State of Colorado’s In-stream Flow Program is one of the most successful in the United States. To date, Colorado has protected over 8,500 miles of streams and 486 natural lakes. The DOW works closely with the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) to appropriate, acquire and protect in-stream flow and natural lake-level water rights to preserve the natural environment. 

For more information on the DOW’s involvement regarding the In-stream Flow Program please contact Mark Uppendahl by e-mail or phone at 303-291-7267. 

For data, check out the In-stream Flow and Natural Lake-Level Database.   

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The DOW has, over the course of the agency’s history, acquired vast land and water holdings that we use to protect and manage the state’s wildlife resources. Some of the water rights that the Division owns are overtly apparent to the public; for example, there are water rights associated with DOW properties with recreational reservoirs and there are water rights associated with all of the Division’s fish hatcheries. Other water rights holdings are not as easily recognized by casual observation; for example, the Division owns many State Wildlife Areas where the management focus might be waterfowl production, upland bird management, or big game hunting opportunities.  Many of these State Wildlife Areas also have water rights associated with them. The Division uses these water rights to enhance wildlife habitat by irrigating food plots, maintaining wetlands, winter range, or wildlife watering features.

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Since water rights are a property right in Colorado, the staff of the Water Resources Unit has a fiduciary responsibility to the Colorado Wildlife Commission and to the citizenry to protect, develop and maintain the value of the DOW’s water right portfolio.  Protection of these assets occurs in many arenas, the most common of which is in the state’s water courts.  Development and value maintenance are actions that cross into several sections and units within the Division. These actions include water use record keeping, measurement, maintaining historic practices and adapting historic practices to changing wildlife management priorities.

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Water quality protection and management is an essential component in the preservation, protection, and management of aquatic wildlife. The DOW has been a consistent and long-standing participant in matters before the state’s Water Quality Control Commission where we seek to give the state’s aquatic ecosystems a voice in water quality decisions. DOW enters these processes with data and expertise to ensure that biology and science are afforded equal weight in water quality management and protection.