San Luis Valley "trial of the century" opens over a $150 to $500 per acre foot pumping fee
Trial opened June 29, 2026 in Division 3 Water Court over Subdistrict No. 1’s Fourth Amended Plan of Water Management, which would raise the groundwater pumping fee from $150 to $500 per acre foot. Both sides appear positioned for a Colorado Supreme Court appeal.
- Current pumping fee
- $150/AF
- Proposed fee
- $500/AF
- Trial opened
- June 29, 2026
What happened
Trial opened June 29, 2026 in Colorado Water Court Division 3 before Judge Michael Gonzales over the Rio Grande Water Conservation District Subdistrict No. 1’s Fourth Amended Plan of Water Management. The plan would raise the groundwater pumping fee from $150 to $500 per acre foot, with the $500 figure functioning as an over-pumping charge where pumping exceeds the natural surface water tied to a property.
Non-exempt well owners in the San Luis Valley must offset injurious depletions under State Engineer groundwater rules effective 2021, through one of seven subdistricts or an individual augmentation plan. The trial had been delayed from January 2026, and reporting indicates both sides are positioned to appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court.
What it means if you own water here
Until this resolves, the cost of pumping in the San Luis Valley, and therefore the value of surface water that offsets pumping, is unsettled. A $500 per acre foot over-pumping fee makes an augmenting surface right worth up to that much per acre foot per year to a well owner who would otherwise pay it.
Owners of senior surface rights in the valley are potentially the beneficiaries of the fee; owners of wells are the payers. Which side of that line you are on is the first thing to establish.
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