Vance v. Wolfe

Ranchers holding senior water rights (plaintiffs) sued Colorado's water engineers (defendants), who hadn't required oil and gas companies to obtain water-well permits for their coalbed methane (CBM) production, arguing CBM's necessary extraction of groundwater as part of the process constituted a beneficial use requiring permitting; the engineers argued the water was merely an unwanted nuisance byproduct rather than a beneficial use. The water court granted the ranchers summary judgment, finding CBM water extraction a beneficial use requiring permits, and the engineers appealed.