Water Use Act

This act governs the appropriation and use of water within a state, declaring water to be reserved to the people and establishing a permit system through which rights to divert, store, and use it are acquired. It sets criteria and preferences for granting permits, fixes priority among competing appropriations, provides for determining rights that predate the act, and addresses the reservation of water left in place, temporary use authorizations, transfers and changes of existing appropriations, movement of water between hydrologic units, and abandonment or forfeiture of rights that go unused. Administration rests with a state commissioner alongside a water resources board, backed by administrative and judicial adjudication of competing claims, enforcement powers, criminal penalties, and a right of appeal.

Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.