43 U.S.C. § 431
Section 431 · Limitation as to amount of water; qualifications of applicant
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 21 court decisions — leading case State of Arizona v. State of California (1963)
Most recently applied in Grant County Black Sands Irrigation District v. United States Bureau of Reclamation (September 2009)
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.
No right to the use of water for land in private ownership shall be sold for a tract exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to any one landowner, and no such sale shall be made to any landowner unless he be an actual bona fide resident on such land, or occupant thereof residing in the neighborhood of said land, and no such right shall permanently attach until all payments therefor are made.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Imperial Irrigation District of California; Nonapplicability of Federal Reclamation Laws
Nonapplicability of Federal reclamation laws to lands within Imperial Irrigation District of California, see section 4 of Pub. L. 96–570, set out as a note under section 423e 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Provisions of this section as not amended, modified or repealed by the Submerged Lands Act, see section 1303 of this title.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Grand Teton National Park, withdrawn lands within exterior boundary, use for reclamation purposes, see section 406d–5 of Title 16, Conservation.