Water Law Terms
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| Acre-foot | The quantity of water required to cover 1 acre to a depth of 1 foot, or 325,851 gallons
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| aquifer | A porous water-bearing geologic formation. The term is used to describe any underground area which serves as a common supply of water obtained by pumping.
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| artesian well | A well that taps a confined aquifer. The aquifer often has sufficient pressure to create a natural flow of water.
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| calling the river | The action taken by a senior appropriator to curtail junior diversions when necessary to permit the senior to take her full entitlement.
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| confined aquifer | An aquifer that is closed between impermeable materials.
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| conjunctive use | The coordinated use of surface water and groundwater to maximize the value of both resources.
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| consumptive use | The amount of water consumed by a particular use and thus unavailable for further use.
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| conveyance loss | The loss of water from a ditch, canal, or other conduit due to evaporation, leakage, seepage, or transpiration.
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| cubic foot per second | The quantity of water flowing at a velocity of one foot per second through a box one foot wide and one foot deep. Usually abbreviated "cfs" it is equivalent to 448.8 gallons per minute or slightly more than 646,000 gallons per day.
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| ditch | An artificial open channel or waterway constructed through earth or rock, for the purpose of carrying water. A ditch is smaller than a canal, although the line of demarcation between the two is indefinite. May be lined with material to prevent seepage.
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| diversion | The extraction of water from its natural source, usually into a ditch or canal, for ultimate use on land, in industry, or for domestic purposes.
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| divide | A high point on land which separates two river basins or drainage basins.
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| drainage basin | The area drained by a river and its tributaries. The land area from which water drains into the Colorado River and its tributaries, for example, comprises the Colorado River basin. Also called a "catchment area" "watershed," or "river basin."
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| efficiency | The ratio of (1) the quantity of water consumed by a particular use to (2) the volume of water diverted for the use. Sometimes defined as the ratio of the quantity consumed to the volume of water delivered for the use.
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| effluent | The water, usually polluted, which is discharged into a stream from sewers, industrial plants, or other pollution sources.
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| flood plain | That portion of a river valley which is covered with water when the river overflows its banks at flood stage.
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| groundwater | Subsurface water from which wells and springs are fed. In a strict sense
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| groundwater basin | A physiographic or geologic unit containing at least one aquifer of significant areal extent.
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| headgate | A device to control water flow, placed at the entrance to a conduit such as a pipeline, or canal. The point at which water is diverted from a river into an irrigation ditch.
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| headwaters | The place where a river originates.
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| impermeable | Material that does not permit the passage of water or other fluids.
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| instream use | Water uses that do not require a diversion - e.g., fishing or transportation.
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| lateral | A minor ditch that branches off a main ditch or canal and is used to transport water onto the land where it will be used.
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| leaching | The removal of salts and alkali from soils by abundant irrigation combined with drainage.
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| littoral rights | The equivalent of riparian rights for those who border a lake rather than a flowing stream.
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| miner's inch | An obsolescent term measuring the rate of flow of water. A variable measure equal to between 0.02 and 0.029 cfs depending on the state.
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| mouth of a river | The place where a river empties into another river, or into the sea.
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| nonconsumptive use | Any water use that does not reduce the supply of water available for other uses - e.g., hunting and swimming.
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| phreatophyte | A water-loving plant. Usually describes vegetation such as cottonwood trees which line the banks of a stream and soak up water sought to be used to irrigate agricultural crops.
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| recharge, groundwater | The flow of water into an aquifer.
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| return flow | Any flow which returns to a stream channel after diversion for use. In irrigation, water applied to an area which is not consumed in evaporation or transportation, and returns to a surface stream or groundwater aquifer.
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| river basin | See "Drainage Basin"
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| safe yield | Generally the amount of water that can be extracted each year from an aquifer on a renewable basis.
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| seepage |
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| unconfined aquifer |
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| water, duty of |
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| watershed |
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| water table |
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