16 U.S.C. § 410hhh–7 — Water rights

(a) Omitted This subsection contains an amendment to another law and is not reproduced here. (b) Effect on water rights (1) Subject to the amendment in subsection (a), nothing in this subchapter affects (A) the use, ownership, or control of any water or water right that already existed on November 22, 2000; (B) any vested or decreed conditional water right that existed then, including one held by the United States; (C) any interstate water compact that existed then; or (D), subject to paragraph (2), Colorado's authority over its own water law. (2) To carry out the purposes of the park and preserve, the Secretary must get and use any needed water rights as follows: (A) those rights must be applied for, decided, changed, and managed under Colorado's usual legal process and priority system; (B) the purpose and character of those rights must follow Colorado law, except the Secretary is specifically allowed to appropriate water only to maintain ground water levels, surface water levels, and stream flows in the park and preserve, to fulfill the park's and preserve's purposes and protect their resources and uses; (C) those rights must be set up and used without interfering with (i) any water right that existed on November 22, 2000 for a non-federal purpose in the San Luis Valley, or (ii) the Closed Basin Division water project; and (D) except as allowed in subsections (c) and (d), no federal reserved water right may be claimed for the park or preserve. (c) National Forest water rights Any water right the United States already holds or later gets for the Rio Grande National Forest (1) counts as equally useful and valuable for the preserve, and (2) keeps its original priority and purpose once it becomes part of the preserve. (d) National Monument water rights Any water right the United States already holds or later gets for the Great Sand Dunes National Monument (1) counts as equally useful and valuable for the park, and (2) keeps its original priority and purpose once it becomes part of the park. (e) Acquired water rights and water resources (1)(A) If the Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4 is acquired, all its water rights and water resources may be used only inside (i) the park, (ii) the preserve, (iii) the wildlife refuge, or (iv) nearby parts of Alamosa or Saguache Counties, Colorado. (B) Except as allowed by the 1997 water service agreements between the Cabeza de Vaca Land and Cattle Company and the Baca Grande Water and Sanitation District, those water rights and resources may be used only for (i) protecting the monument's, park's, preserve's, or refuge's resources and values, (ii) fish and wildlife management, or (iii) irrigation needed to protect water resources. (2) If Baca Grant water rights are acquired, their use may be changed only under Colorado law. (f) Disposal The Secretary may sell the water resources and related facilities as needed to end the obligations in the 1997 water service agreements. Before any sale, the Secretary must first decide it will not hurt protection of the resources of Great Sand Dunes National Monument, National Park, National Preserve, and the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, and must include appropriate protective measures in the sale.