Colorado Coordinate System

C.R.S. tit. 38, art. 52

in effect

C.R.S. § 38-52-101 Colorado coordinate system zones defined

38-52-101. Colorado coordinate system zones defined. (1) The systems of plane coordinates which have been established by the national ocean service/national geodetic survey (formerly the United States coast and geodetic survey) or its successors for defining and stating the geographic positions or locations of points on the surface of the earth within the state of Colorado are, on and after July 1, 1988, to be known and designated as the Colorado coordinate system of 1927 and the Colorado coordinate system of 1983. (2) For the purpose of the use of these systems, the state is divided into a north zone, a central zone, and a south zone. (3) The area now included in the following counties shall constitute the north zone: Moffat, Routt, Jackson, Larimer, Weld, Logan, Sedgwick, Rio Blanco, Grand, Boulder, Gilpin, Adams, Morgan, Washington, Phillips, and Yuma. (4) The area now included in the following counties shall constitute the central zone: Garfield, Eagle, Summit, Clear Creek, Jefferson, Denver, Arapahoe, Lincoln, Kit Carson, Mesa, Delta, Pitkin, Gunnison, Lake, Chaffee, Park, Fremont, Teller, Douglas, El Paso, Elbert, and Cheyenne. (5) The area now included in the following counties shall constitute the south zone: Montrose, Ouray, Hinsdale, Saguache, Custer, Pueblo, Crowley, Kiowa, San Miguel, San Juan, Mineral, Rio Grande, Alamosa, Huerfano, Otero, Bent, Prowers, Dolores, Montezuma, La Plata, Archuleta, Conejos, Costilla, Las Animas, and Baca.

C.R.S. § 38-52-102 Colorado coordinate system names defined

38-52-102. Colorado coordinate system names defined. (1) As established for use in the north zone, the Colorado coordinate system of 1927 or the Colorado coordinate system of 1983 shall be named; and, in any land description in which it is used, it shall be designated the Colorado coordinate system of 1927 north zone or the Colorado coordinate system of 1983 north zone. (2) As established for use in the central zone, the Colorado coordinate system of 1927 or the Colorado coordinate system of 1983 shall be named; and, in any land description in which it is used, it shall be designated the Colorado coordinate system of 1927 central zone or the Colorado coordinate system of 1983 central zone. (3) As established for use in the south zone, the Colorado coordinate system of 1927 or the Colorado coordinate system of 1983 shall be named; and, in any land description in which it is used, it shall be designated the Colorado coordinate system of 1927 south zone or the Colorado coordinate system of 1983 south zone.

C.R.S. § 38-52-103 Colorado coordinate system defined

38-52-103. Colorado coordinate system defined. (1) The plane coordinate values for a point on the earth's surface, used to express the geographic position or location of such point in the appropriate zone of this system, shall consist of two distances expressed in United States survey feet and decimals of a foot when using the Colorado coordinate system of 1927. One of these distances, to be known as the x-coordinate, shall give the position in an east-west direction; the other, to be known as the y-coordinate, shall give the position in a north-south direction. These coordinates shall be made to depend upon and conform to plane rectangular coordinate values for the monumented points of the North American horizontal geodetic control network as published by the national ocean survey/national geodetic survey (formerly the United States coast and geodetic survey), or its successors, and the plane coordinates of which have been computed on the systems defined in this article. Any such station may be used for establishing a survey connection to either Colorado coordinate system. (2) For the purposes of converting coordinates of the Colorado coordinate system of 1983 from meters to feet, the U.S. Survey Foot shall be used. The conversion factor is: One meter equals 3937/1200 feet.

C.R.S. § 38-52-104 Federal and state coordinate description same tract - federal precedence

38-52-104. Federal and state coordinate description same tract - federal precedence. (1) Whenever coordinates based on the Colorado coordinate system are used to describe any tract of land which in the same document is also described by reference to any subdivision, line, or corner of the United States public land surveys, the description by coordinates shall be construed as supplemental to the basic description of such subdivision, line, or corner contained in the official plats and field notes filed of record, and, in the event of any conflict, the description by reference to the subdivision, line, or corner of the United States public land surveys shall prevail over the description by coordinates, unless said coordinates are upheld by adjudication, at which time the coordinate description will prevail. (2) Nothing in this article shall require any purchaser or mortgagee to rely on a description, any part of which depends exclusively upon the Colorado coordinate system, unless such description has been adjudicated as provided in this section.

C.R.S. § 38-52-105 Colorado coordinate system origins defined

38-52-105. Colorado coordinate system origins defined. (1) For the purposes of more precisely defining the Colorado coordinate system of 1927, the following definitions by the United States coast and geodetic survey (now the national ocean survey/national geodetic survey) are adopted: (a) The "Colorado coordinate system of 1927 north zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the Clarke spheroid of 1866, having standard parallels at north latitudes 39 degrees 43 minutes and 40 degrees 47 minutes along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 105 degrees 30 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 39 degrees 20 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x - 2,000,000 feet and y - 0 feet. (b) The "Colorado coordinate system of 1927 central zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the Clarke spheroid of 1866, having standard parallels at north latitudes 38 degrees 27 minutes and 39 degrees 45 minutes north latitude along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 105 degrees 30 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 37 degrees 50 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x - 2,000,000 feet and y - 0 feet. (c) The "Colorado coordinate system of 1927 south zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the Clarke spheroid of 1866, having standard parallels at north latitudes 37 degrees 14 minutes and 38 degrees 26 minutes along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 105 degrees 30 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 36 degrees 40 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x - 2,000,000 feet and y - 0 feet. (2) For the purposes of more precisely defining the Colorado coordinate system of 1983, the following definition by the national ocean service/national geodetic survey is adopted: (a) The "Colorado coordinate system of 1983 north zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the North American datum of 1983, having standard parallels at north latitude of 39 degrees 43 minutes and 40 degrees 47 minutes along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 105 degrees 30 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 39 degrees 20 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x - 914,401.8289 meters and y - 304,800.6096 meters. (b) The "Colorado coordinate system of 1983 central zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the North American datum of 1983, having standard parallels at north latitudes 38 degrees 27 minutes and 39 degrees 45 minutes along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 105 degrees 30 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 37 degrees 50 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x - 914,401.8289 meters and y - 304,800.6096 meters. (c) The "Colorado coordinate system of 1983 south zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the North American datum of 1983, having standard parallels at north latitudes 37 degrees 14 minutes and 38 degrees 26 minutes along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 105 degrees 30 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 36 degrees 40 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x - 914,401.8289 meters and y - 304,800.6096 meters.

C.R.S. § 38-52-106 Colorado coordinate system - use of term

38-52-106. Colorado coordinate system - use of term. The use of the term "Colorado coordinate system of 1927 north zone, central zone, or south zone" or "Colorado coordinate system of 1983 north zone, central zone, or south zone" on any map, report of survey, or other document shall be limited to coordinates based on the Colorado coordinate systems as defined in this article. Such map, report, or document shall include a statement describing the standard of accuracy, as defined by the national ocean survey/national geodetic survey, maintained in developing the coordinates shown therein.

C.R.S. § 38-52-107 Severability

38-52-107. Severability. If any provision of this article is declared invalid, such invalidity shall not affect any other portion of this article, which can be given effect without the invalid provision; and, to this end, the provisions of this article are declared severable.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-38.docxFetched: 10/6/2026