Along the Conejos River, irrigation water is its own question

In farming country along the Conejos River, a property can have two completely different kinds of water, and mixing them up causes trouble.

One is the household water that comes out of the tap, from a town system or a well. The other is irrigation water, delivered through ditches and canals that pull from the Conejos River to green up pastures, hay meadows, and fields across the valley floor. Irrigation water usually comes as shares or rights tied to the land, with its own delivery schedule and its own rules. It is not drinking water, and having it does not mean the home has plenty of domestic supply.

This matters for a buyer because a listing that mentions “water rights” or “irrigation” may be talking about ditch water for the fields, not the water that serves the house. The two have to be checked on their own: what supplies the home, and exactly what irrigation transfers with the sale. Ditch shares can have rules about how and whether they move with a property.

Verify the household water and the irrigation water separately, using the state water agency for the San Luis Valley (Division 3) and the local ditch or canal company.