Steamboat Pilot & Today The Yampa River basin has experienced calls for senior water rights for two of the past three dry summers, and the Colorado Division of Water Resources currently is reviewing a formal request to declare the lower basin over-appropriated as is the case across most of Colorado. In mid-March, as part of a 30-day public comment period, Moffat County commissioners submitted a letter to the Division of Water Resources state engineer asking for a two-year extension before the start of the over-appropriation status. “This feels like a fast-paced decision, without time being allowed to thoughtfully develop localized solutions to really address the issues at hand,” the commissioners’ letter stated. “The number one comment coming from our water users and landowners is a desire to understand what the impacts of the Yampa over-appropriation means.”