81 



Since the right to appropriate water grew out of climatic conditions 

 rather than logishition, the nature of the rights acquired and the lim- 

 itations upon them were not well defined, and the constitution and 

 laws of the State have left them largely undefined. Consequently 

 the courts of the State have been free to limit rights as they saw fit, 

 and court decisions must be looked to for the nature of water rights. 

 The most far-reaching ruling regarding water rights in Colorado is 

 that they may be sold and transferred independent!}^ of the land on 

 which the water has been used> 



That is, it is not a right to enough water for a described area of 

 land, but a right to a definite volume of water, which may be sold 

 and transferred to any land that can be reached, provided no one 

 is injured by the transfer. Until 1001 no procedure for making 

 transfers was prescribed, and parties claiming to be injured were 

 obliged to bring suit to prevent the transfer. In 1003 a law was 

 enacted providing that parties wishing to change the place of diver- 

 sion or use of water must apply to the court for permission to make 

 the change. On such application being made a hearing similar to an 

 adjudication is held, and all parties interested may be heard for or 

 against the transfer, and it can be made only on approval by the court 

 after such a hearing. 



AVithout exception the decrees in the districts including the South 

 Platte and its tributaries confirm to the various ditches rights to defi- 

 nite volumes based, in some instances, on the measured or estimated 

 capacities of the ditches, in others on the statements of the interested 

 parties as to what they had used, and in others computed from the 

 area said to have been irrigated. These rights are held to be absolute 

 even if the computations made in compiling the decree are shown to 

 have been wrong.'' The right is to a continuous flow of the volume 

 stated. 



Although an adjudicated right can not be questioned after the 

 expiration of the statutory period for appeal, it may be lost by aban- 

 donment. If a party does not make use of the volumes of water 

 decreed the right Avill be open to attack on this ground and may then 

 be cut down to the volume which has been put to beneficial use. 



WYOMING. 



Wvominar was organized as a Territory in 18G8. Prior to this 

 there was almost no settlement and practically no agriculture. The 



o A priority of rijiht to tlio use of water for irrigation is a property right, and 

 may be sold aud transferred sepjirateiy from tlie land in eonnection with wliieh 

 it ripened. (Strickler v. Colorado Springs, 26 Pac, 318.) 



6 Boulder aud Weld Ditch Company v. Lower Boulder Ditch Company, 22 

 Colo., 115. 



