prior appropriation doctrine
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 286 U.S. 494 - State of Wyoming v. State of Colorado · 1932Most cited · 97 citing opinions
the doctrine, long recognized and enforced in both states, whereby priority of appropriation gives superiority of right, furnished the only equitable and right basis on which to determine the controversy between them
How often courts cite the case defining “prior appropriation doctrine”
Court decisions citing the opinion that defined “prior appropriation doctrine” — 97 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining case as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.