Wyoming v. Colorado
Encyclopedia
Wyoming v. Colorado is a set of court cases, all dealing with water distribution from the Laramie River
. Petition for rehearing was granted which revised the original decision. A motion to dismiss was later denied.
When two states have a controversy between each other, the case is filed for original jurisdiction
with the United States Supreme Court. This is one of the very limited circumstances where the court acts with original jurisdiction, e.g. a trial court. In all other cases the court acts as the highest level appellate court in the United States.
The state of Wyoming
brought an action against the state of Colorado
to prevent the diversion of a stream system. Wyoming claimed the doctrine of prior appropriation
granted them superior rights to the stream water, as they claimed the water first, and that Colorado's proposed diversion would leave them with an insufficient supply of water.
The court upheld Wyoming's prior appropriation water rights, preventing Colorado's proposed diversion of the stream system as originally planned. However, the court allowed Colorado to divert a lesser amount of water, as long as it did not interfere with Wyoming's prior water usage. After in depth fact-finding of the exact amount of water used by Wyoming, the court determined that Colorado could divert no more than 15500 acre.ft per year of water from the interstate stream system.
Laramie River
The Laramie River is a tributary of the North Platte River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Wyoming.It rises in northern Colorado, in the Roosevelt National Forest in the Front Range, in western Larimer County...
. Petition for rehearing was granted which revised the original decision. A motion to dismiss was later denied.
When two states have a controversy between each other, the case is filed for original jurisdiction
Original jurisdiction
The original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a court has the power to review a lower court's decision.-France:...
with the United States Supreme Court. This is one of the very limited circumstances where the court acts with original jurisdiction, e.g. a trial court. In all other cases the court acts as the highest level appellate court in the United States.
The state of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
brought an action against the state of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
to prevent the diversion of a stream system. Wyoming claimed the doctrine of prior appropriation
Prior appropriation water rights
Prior appropriation water rights, sometimes known as the Colorado Doctrine in reference to the U.S. Supreme Court case Wyoming v. Colorado, is a system of allocating water rights from a water source that is markedly different from riparian water rights...
granted them superior rights to the stream water, as they claimed the water first, and that Colorado's proposed diversion would leave them with an insufficient supply of water.
The court upheld Wyoming's prior appropriation water rights, preventing Colorado's proposed diversion of the stream system as originally planned. However, the court allowed Colorado to divert a lesser amount of water, as long as it did not interfere with Wyoming's prior water usage. After in depth fact-finding of the exact amount of water used by Wyoming, the court determined that Colorado could divert no more than 15500 acre.ft per year of water from the interstate stream system.