Water law isn’t just confusing, it’s unforgiving. But when you work with people who live and breathe it, the path forward becomes a lot clearer.
With over 200 years of combined experience, our dedicated team of Colorado water attorneys is ready to offer straightforward guidance, practical solutions, and reliable representation in Water Court, water transactions, and any other water-related matters you may face.
At Lyons Gaddis, we work with all types of water users, including municipalities, water districts, metropolitan districts, water conservancy districts, sanitation districts, water authorities, water associations, and ditch and reservoir companies. We also represent agricultural users, landowners, commercial users, and industrial users.
Whether you’re developing new rights or adapting existing ones, we help you maximize the value of your water resources and ensure they’re protected when it matters most.
Ready to explore your water rights options? Fill out our quick contact form or call 303‑776‑9900 to speak directly with a member of our experienced Water Team today.
Serving Colorado Water Users of All Kinds
At Lyons Gaddis, we serve a diverse network of clients across Colorado’s water landscape. These client categories reflect the breadth of experience we bring to every matter, backed by trust, longevity, and results.
Tailored Solutions for Your Water-Related Matters
Our work in Colorado water law spans every facet of water rights management and protection. Explore the major categories of service below to see how we can support your water-related needs.
Adjudicating New Water Rights
- What it involves: Filing for new surface-water appropriations, groundwater permits, or perfecting conditional rights in Water Court.
- Key benefits: Lock in senior priority dates and secure a dependable supply for future growth.
- How we help: Draft and file applications, coordinate engineering, negotiate settlements, and shepherd decrees from referee to judge.
Changing & Perfecting Existing Rights
- What it involves: Converting existing decreed rights to new uses, places of use, or points of diversion, and completing diligence to keep conditional rights alive.
- Key benefits: Adapt legacy portfolios to modern municipal, agricultural, industrial, or environmental demands without losing priority or volume.
- How we help: Quantify historic consumptive use, model return flows, negotiate conditions to prevent injury, and secure change-of-use or absolute decrees.
Buying, Selling & Leasing Water Rights
- What it involves: Valuing, acquiring, divesting, and structuring leases for water, ditch, and reservoir shares.
- Key benefits: Make informed investment decisions, unlock capital, and optimize long-term supply strategies.
- How we help: Perform title and engineering due diligence, draft purchase-and-sale agreements, prepare dry-up covenants, and close complex multiparty transactions.
Augmentation, Exchanges & Storage Projects
- What it involves: Designing and adjudicating plans for augmentation, recharge, injection and extraction, aquifer storage and recovery, and upstream or downstream exchanges.
- Key benefits: Allow new wells or diversions to operate out of priority, improve drought resilience, and maximize yield from existing rights.
- How we help: Prepare substitute water supply plans (SWSPs), secure temporary approvals, coordinate modeling, and obtain final decrees for augmentation, exchange, and storage.
Well Permitting & Administrative Approvals
- What it involves: Securing permits for tributary, nontributary, not-nontributary, and geothermal wells, as well as Use-by-Special-Review (USR) permits, water-supply approvals and dedications, and water-quality discharge permits.
- Key benefits: Accelerate regulatory timelines and stay compliant with state and local requirements.
- How we help: Prepare permit packages, appear before the State Engineer, Ground Water Commission, and Water Quality Control Division, and advocate in agency rulemakings and legislative sessions.
Infrastructure & Easement Projects
- What it involves: Planning, financing, and securing rights-of-way for pipelines, canals, ditches, reservoirs, and regional supply systems.
- Key benefits: Deliver water where and when it is needed while minimizing disputes and future maintenance costs.
- How we help: Draft construction and intergovernmental agreements, negotiate easements and licenses, and coordinate with municipalities, counties, or federal agencies when required.
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
- What it involves: Enforcing priorities, defending ditch easements, and resolving conflicts over flooding, drainage, seepage, or eminent domain in Water Court, district court, or on appeal.
- Key benefits: Protect infrastructure value, maintain operational reliability, and safeguard senior rights.
- How we help: File statements of opposition, pursue injunctions and declaratory relief, handle ditch company disputes, and appeals to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Conservation & Environmental Stewardship
- What it involves: Aligning water-rights strategy with conservation easements, habitat projects, and instream-flow or split-season leases.
- Key benefits: Qualify for tax benefits, meet regulatory requirements, and enhance ecological resilience.
- How we help: Structure and record conservation easements, negotiate instream-flow transfers, and collaborate with land trusts and state agencies on watershed initiatives.
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