The acts necessary to create a right to make a private use of water.Appropriation
The establishment of a water right by diversion, due diligence
and beneficial use. Must be adjudicated to establish seniority of right.
Aquifer
A water-saturated, underground layer of rock or unconsolidated material that can
transmit an economic amount of water. In an unconfined aquifer the upper surface of the saturated aquifer is a changing water table under atmospheric pressure. In a confined (artesian) aquifer the water is
maintained under pressure by low porosity rocks surrounding it.
Beneficial Use
The measure, the basis, and the limit of the appropriator's right to use water.
Beneficial use includes domestic irrigation, stock, and mining uses, and may include recreation, fish and wildlife, or other uses, depending on state law.
Consumptive Use
The amount of
water consumed during use that does not return to a stream system.
Groundwater Appropriation / Permit System
The distinguishing feature of the permit system is
administrative regulation and management of groundwater by specifying limits on the number of permits issued, pumping rates, overdevelopment of the aquifer.
Historic Use
The
documented diversion and consumptive use of water over a period of years. Determines true value of a right.
Interstate Waters
Rivers that flow from one state to
another in which all have some rights. Interstate waters are governed by compacts, and are subject to federal law. Intrastate waters are the streams and rivers within a state. They are subject to state law.
Municipal Use
Residential, commercial, and industrial use in urban areas.
Point Of Diversion
A specifically named place where water is removed from a body of water.
Prior Appropriation
The surface water law system developed in the western
United States which provides that one who is first in time to divert and apply water to a beneficial use has a prior right to use the water in the event of water shortage. Under modern statutes, appraisal must
usually be secured from some state agency before acquiring a new water right or making a change in use of water.
Reasonable Use Doctrine
Also known as the
"American Rule," this doctrine allows a landowner to withdraw groundwater for reasonable uses on the overlying land without liability for harm to adjoining landowners; any beneficial use on the overlying
land is considered reasonable.
Recharge
The addition of water to groundwater.
Riparian Rights
The surface water law system prevailing
in the eastern United States which grants to a landowner bordering a body of water the right to make reasonable use of the water on that land if the use does not interfere with reasonable uses of other riparians.
Semi-Arid Region
An area which has annual average precipitation of 10 to 20 inches.
Storage or Storage Right
Water interrupted in its natural gravity flow and detained for a later beneficial use.
Water Court
A special division of a district court with a
district judge designated as and called the water judge to deal with certain specific water matters principally having to do with adjudication and change of point of diversion.
Water Right
A property right to make a beneficial use of a particular amount of water.
