Colorado § 37-92-202 - Division engineers.

§ 37-92-202. Division engineers.

(1) (a) The state engineer, with the approval of the executive director of the department of natural resources, shall appoint one division engineer for each division. The division engineers are allocated to the division of water resources as a section of the division. The division engineers are type 1 entities, as defined in section 24-1-105. Each division engineer must be a licensed professional engineer and must have such additional qualifications as may be specified from time to time by the state engineer. The state engineer, with the approval of said executive director, may employ such assistants and staff members as are necessary to enable each division engineer to carry out the division engineer's duties.

(b) Each division engineer shall reside in his division, and the offices of the various division engineers shall be maintained in the following locations:

Division 1

Greeley

Division 2

Pueblo

Division 3

Alamosa

Division 4

Montrose

Division 5

Glenwood Springs

Division 6

Steamboat Springs

Division 7

Durango

(2) The division engineers shall perform such functions as are specified in this article and other laws and such functions as may be specified in written instructions and orders issued to them or to any one of them from time to time by the state engineer.

(3) With the approval of the state engineer, each division engineer may establish one or more field offices within his division and may appoint as a member of his staff a water commissioner for each such office.

(4) The expenses of the offices and staffs of the division engineers shall be provided for out of state funds.

(5) To the extent required by the constitution and laws of Colorado, appointments under this section shall be subject and pursuant to the state personnel system.

Source: L. 69: p. 1203, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-21-9. L. 2004: (1)(a) amended, p. 1316, § 70, effective May 28. L. 2022: (1)(a) amended, (SB 22-162), ch. 469, p. 3411, § 171, effective August 10.

Cross references: For the short title (the "Debbie Haskins 'Administrative Organization Act of 1968' Moderization Act") in SB 22-162, see section 1 of chapter 469, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. Since § 37-92-202 is similar to repealed laws antecedent to CSA, C. 90, §§ 224, 241, and 242, relevant cases construing those provisions have been included in the annotations to this section.

The office of division engineer is within the classified civil service. People v. Chew, 67 Colo. 394, 179 P. 812 (1919).

The division engineer is vested with control over the commissioners in his division. Comstock v. Fort Morgan Reservoir & Irrigation Co., 60 Colo. 101, 151 P. 929 (1915).

Since it is the duty of the division engineer to make inter-district distribution of water in his division, and this was accomplished by directions to the commissioners under his control, it follows that when he directed a commissioner in his division to cease supplying water, to priorities post-dating a specified date, it was the duty of the commissioner receiving such order to obey it. Comstock v. Ft. Morgan Reservoir & Irrigation Co., 60 Colo. 101, 151 P. 929 (1915).

The division engineer is required to prepare the register and tabulated statement of priorities. Comstock v. Ft. Morgan Reservoir & Irrigation Co., 60 Colo. 101, 151 P. 929 (1915); Weiland v. Reorganized Catlin Consol. Canal Co., 61 Colo. 125, 156 P. 596 (1916).

The law presumed that public officials discharge their duties in conformity with the statutes, and the burden of showing to the contrary rested with him who relies thereon. McLean v. Farmers' High Line Canal & Reservoir Co., 44 Colo. 148, 98 P. 16 (1908).

Water officials had to distribute water according to decreed priorities, and a court had no power to direct them to do that which the duties of their office did not require of them. Ft. Morgan Reservoir & Irrigation Co. v. McCune, 71 Colo. 256, 206 P. 393 (1922).

Water officials have no concern with unappropriated waters. Ft. Morgan Reservoir & Irrigation Co. v. McCune, 71 Colo. 256, 206 P. 393 (1922).

The former laws of 1887 made it the duty of the superintendent of irrigation to see that the water of the division was distributed according to the priorities as established by the decrees in the districts. O'Neill v. Northern Colo. Irrigation Co., 56 Colo. 545, 139 P. 536 (1914); Comstock v. Larimer & Weld Reservoir Co., 58 Colo. 186, 145 P. 700 (1914).

A river with its tributaries had to be administered by the water officials as a whole, and all the decrees and appropriations of the water division of which water district three was a part, were collated, tabulated and combined for the purposes of such administration according to priorities. Comstock v. Larimer & Weld Reservoir Co., 58 Colo. 186, 145 P. 700 (1914).

Several decrees of the water districts within a division were to be treated as one, and the water distributed accordingly. McLean v. Farmers' High Line Canal & Reservoir Co., 44 Colo. 184, 98 P. 16 (1908); Comstock v. Fort Morgan Reservoir & Irrigation Co., 60 Colo. 101, 151 P. 929 (1915).

The trial court exceeded its authority when it decreed that the state engineer petition the court to have Thornton pay the cost of administrative assistance from the state engineer's office for the administration of the northern project. This statute merely authorized the state engineer and division engineer to utilize private funds that may be available to them, not to impose obligations on private parties to provide such funds. City of Thornton v. Bijou Irrigation Co., 926 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1996).