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Around the world, water rights systems govern the allocation of water to a multitude of users. Such systems primarily come into play during times of drought, when some users have to be shorted. Yet their management during times of excess can have implications for subsequent drought impacts. This is evident in the State of Colorado, where under "free river conditions" in which there is sufficient water to satisfy all water rights, anyone—including individuals lacking water rights—can divert as much as they want, unconstrained by the limit of their water right. Here, we estimate the amount of excess water used under such conditions within Division five of the Upper Colorado River Basin in the State of Colorado. Comparing the daily water withdrawals of diversion structures along the Colorado River and its tributaries with their (daily) water rights, we find that in 2017, 339 structures report days with excess withdrawals, amounting to 108 million cubic meters (87,577 acer feet). While such excess withdrawal is legal in Colorado, we argue that the free river condition is an antiquated rule that will make much needed reform of water allocation within the water‐stressed Colorado River Basin more difficult. We offer policy suggestions to address it. Plain Language Summary: Challenging water stress situations can be catalysts for reform. The Colorado River Basin is facing such a situation with ongoing drought since the turn of the Century. In the absence of much willingness for change, we propose a pragmatic step toward reform. Within the State of Colorado, when all water users have sufficient water to meet their decreed volumetric water right, the river is said to be in "free river conditions." Under these conditions, anyone—whether or not they own a water right—can divert as much water as they'd like until a senior user downstream makes a "call" on the river because they no longer have enough water to satisfy their right. We estimate that under free river conditions, excess water withdrawals of 108 million cubic meters (87,577 acer feet) is diverted beyond water users' decreed volumetric rights. We argue that such improperly defined water rights stand in the way of longer‐run reforms that seek to bring demand and supply in line in the Colorado River Basin, and propose alternative policies to bank this water to stave off future droughts. Key Points: We quantify the excess water diversions in the Upper Colorado Basin that go beyond diverters' water rightsThe Excess Diversions are a loophole in the Colorado Water System that will impede reformsStemming the Excess diversions will potentially help reduce economic and ecological stress of further depletion of Lake Powell [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the impact of geodemographic factors on antibiotic prescribing for adult acute, uncomplicated bronchitis or upper respiratory tract infection., Methods: A retrospective, observational study of 63,051 single health-system, outpatient discharges with a primary diagnosis of bronchitis or upper respiratory tract infection in 2019. Univariate analyses of prescribing predictors and multivariable stepwise logistic modeling were performed., Results: Patients who were older (aOR 1.02; 95% CI 1.02, 1.02), male (1.10; 1.06, 1.14), black (1.29; 1.22, 1.38), smoked (1.18; 1.14, 1.23), seen in urgent care (1.26; 1.22, 1.31) and living in an area with more owner-occupied housing (1.41; 1.30, 1.53) were more likely to receive antibiotics. Patients who were Asian (0.88; 0.77, 0.99), had Medicare (0.83; 0.78, 0.87), Medicaid (0.84; 0.79, 0.87) or Exchange insurance (0.90; 0.82, 0.98), or seen in the emergency department (0.43; 0.40, 0.46) were less likely to receive antibiotics. Distance from a patient's address and their encounter location did not predict antibiotic prescribing., Conclusions: Antibiotic prescribing interventions for adult acute bronchitis and upper respiratory tract infections could target patients living in an area with higher socioeconomic status., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: None., (© Copyright 2022 by the American Board of Family Medicine.)