Water rights engineering has developed into a special niche in Colorado and in other western states that allocate and administer water using the prior appropriation doctrine. Converting physical water supplies into legal water supplies requires expertise in hydrology and water rights administration, along with an understanding of each water providers' unique water demand, infrastructure, and available resources.

Colorado and other states allow junior water rights to divert water when they would otherwise be out of priority if the junior user can prove that a mitigation plan or plan for augmentation can prevent injury to senior water rights. Developing augmentation plans requires technical analyses, communication of results, negotiations with other water right owners and expert witness testimony.

We use computer models, from simple spreadsheet tools to sophisticated State-developed models to look at the "what-if" scenarios, such as:

• What if the junior conditional water right that is upstream of our intake is finally built?
• What if a senior water right is purchased and added to the water rights portfolio?
• What if the ability to reuse the city's effluent is developed?

Analytical tools that answer questions like these can remove much of the uncertainty involved in evaluation of water rights alternatives.