Water Rights
Riviera Lake relies on two types of water rights-storage water and direct flow- to manage lake levels for irrigation, recreation and wildlife.
Water rights in Colorado are complex. This summary does not provide legal opinion or advice on RCLC’s water rights.
In Colorado, water is owned by the public and is apportioned based on water rights. A water right is not ownership. A water right grants permission to use a specified amount of water, at a specified location, for specific purposes.
Storage rights granted under Colorado law allow RCLC to store water in its lake. Riviera has storage rights to water from both Bear Creek and Clear Creek. Colorado uses a seniority, known as "first in time, first in right”, to determine the priority of water rights.
Riviera Lake’s water rights date to the late 1880s. The lake relies on two storage rights to fill its lake for irrigation and recreational purposes:
CA6832 – the Elliott decree of 1884 permits the storage of water from Bear Creek for irrigation purposes, with an appropriation date of 1882.
17CW3213 – a new decree from 2018 permits the storage of water from Clear Creek for aesthetic, recreation, piscatorial and wildlife uses, with an appropriation date of 1955.
The State of Colorado maintains a database of all reservoirs and other water structures in the state. Use this site to look up useful information about Riviera Lake (Water ID # 0803051).
Storage Rights
RCLC is a stockholder in the Agricultural Ditch and Reservoir Company. Ditch companies in Colorado obtain water rights, and build storage and delivery systems for their members, typically for irrigation purposes. Members purchase stock in a ditch company and then are entitled to a certain percentage of water each year based on how much stock they own. Members pay annual fees that cover the use and maintenance of the ditch system and head gates. Members may also pay additional fees (known as “carriage fees”) to have separately decreed water delivered through the ditch system to their properties.
RCLC owns shares of capital stock in the Ag Ditch company, which entitles it to receive up to 77 inches of water per year. One inch of water is about 90% of an acre-foot in an average water year, and 50% in a dry year. One acre-foot of water is the amount of water that would cover an acre in one foot of water (think a football field). By state statute and regulations, this water must be used for irrigation purposes within 72 hours of delivery. Many RCLC homeowners irrigate their properties from the lake.