43 U.S.C. § 383
Section 383 · Vested rights and State laws unaffected
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 92 court decisions — leading case State of Arizona v. State of California (1963)
Most recently applied in Texas v. New Mexico (June 2024)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting or intended to affect or to in any way interfere with the laws of any State or Territory relating to the control, appropriation, use, or distribution of water used in irrigation, or any vested right acquired thereunder, and the Secretary of the Interior, in carrying out the provisions of this Act, shall proceed in conformity with such laws, and nothing herein shall in any way affect any right of any State or of the Federal Government or of any landowner, appropriator, or user of water in, to, or from any interstate stream or the waters thereof.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
This Act, referred to in text, is act June 17, 1902, popularly known as the Reclamation Act, which is classified generally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 371 of this title and Tables.
Codification
Section is comprised of section 8 (less proviso) of act June 17, 1902. The remainder of section 8 is classified to section 372 of this title.
Section as Unaffected by Submerged Lands Act
Provisions of this section as not amended, modified or repealed by the Submerged Lands Act, see section 1303 of this title.
Cross References
Grand Teton National Park, withdrawn lands within exterior boundary, use for reclamation purposes, see section 406d–5 of Title 16, Conservation.