The Colorado State Land Board centered its Nov. 12 meeting on water policy and the board's own water portfolio, receiving structured briefings from a state water-law attorney, the state engineer and the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), and then discussing how a newly established work group (HB13-32) will review stewardship-trust lands and leases.

Emma Schultz, second assistant attorney general in the Parks, Wildlife and Trust Lands Unit, gave a primer on Colorado water law, stressing the foundational point that a water right in Colorado is a right to use water (a usufructuary right) rather than ownership of discrete drops. She summarized the prior-appropriation system, the role of water court decrees in defining the "bundle of sticks" that constitute a water right, the can-and-will and anti-speculation doctrines that judges apply when fixing or changing rights, and the limits and mechanics of in-stream flow and other statutory uses.

Jason Ullman, state engineer and director of the Division of Water Resources, laid out how the prior-appropriation system is administered: seven water divisions and 78 water districts, ~170,000 water-right filings tracked by the division, stream gauges and commissioners that set calls and curtail junior uses, and the role of augmentation plans and measuring rules to manage complex, multi-color systems. Ullman also updated the board on interstate matters (see separate articles for the South Platte complaint and Colorado River negotiations).

Lauren Riss, director of the CWCB, reviewed agency roles and financing. She said CWCB is a self-funded agency that operates a revolving loan program (financed in part by a share of state severance tax revenues) and multiple grant programs, including water-plan grants funded by sports-betting tax revenue (Prop DD) that have grown substantially. Riss described CWCB's basin roundtables, the 2023 Water Plan update with measurable agency and partner actions, and CWCB's in-stream-flow acquisition and leasing tools.

The board's own water program manager (Justin) presented the Land Board's portfolio strategy, mapping the board's many water-right holdings across the state and highlighting two municipal groundwater leases (Lowry and the Terry Ranch) that together account for a large share of water revenue. He described the program's offense/defense/management trident: (1) acquiring and leasing water rights to generate revenue; (2) reviewing roughly 800 water-court filings per year to protect board assets; and (3) stewarding and maintaining measuring structures, dams and headgates. Justin emphasized that water assets tend to appreciate but typically produce low annual cash yields, and warned about long-term costs of drying land down or selling key rights.

Finally, staff briefed the board on HB13-32, which created a Conservation, Recreation and Stewardship Work Group charged with reviewing stewardship-trust lands and recommending actions to maximize public benefit in areas such as conservation, biodiversity, climate resilience and low-conflict recreation. Staff outlined deliverables (February staff inputs, an interim report and a final report due to the governor and legislature), the consultant and budget support provided in the bill, and the broad stakeholder composition of the work group. Commissioners asked questions about the scope, legislative intent, beneficiary responsibilities and the degree to which the work group's recommendations could suggest statutory or policy changes.

Next steps: Board staff will provide the February 1 materials requested by the work group, continue to coordinate with CWCB and DWR, track the South Platte and Colorado River developments, and report back to the board as the work group and agency actions develop.