Source: https://macomberlaw.com/real-property-and-water/water-rights-idaho/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 16:29:56+00:00

Document:
August, 2017. All waters of the State when flowing in their natural channels, including the waters of all-natural springs and lakes within the boundaries of the state and ground waters of the state, are public waters.[i] The Idaho Constitution guarantees the right to appropriate public waters.[ii] When a private right for the use of public waters is established by appropriation,[iii] a water right is established that is a real property right.[iv] Idaho defines a “water right” as the right to divert public waters and put them to a beneficial use in accordance with one’s priority date.[v] Beneficial uses include domestic use, irrigation, stock-watering, manufacturing, mining, hydropower, municipal, aquaculture, recreation, as well as water uses for sustenance of fish and wildlife.
The Idaho Department of Water Resources manages water in the State of Idaho through water allocation and distribution processes. Any person, association or corporation intending to acquire the right to the beneficial use of public waters must make an application to the Department of Water Resources for a permit to make such appropriation.[vi] The application must state the point of diversion, the amount of water to be withdrawn, and the use of the water.
For example, a new landowner may intend to divert water from a stream in order to irrigate crops. Prior to watering his crops, that landowner must apply for a permit with Idaho Department of Water Resources for the amount of water diverted and the type of use. This process is used to ensure that no downstream users of that water are interrupted by the new landowner’s use.
Not all water rights throughout the state of Idaho have been registered with the Department of Water Resources. For one reason or another, many users have a long history of use without ever registering their use. When water is plentiful, neighboring water users may never realize the potential for conflict. However, in times of shortage, without an established water right, competing water users will have to adjudicate to determine who gets to use the water. In areas where an official adjudication of the watershed has not taken place, the private parties must go to district court to battle it out. In areas where the State of Idaho has undertaken adjudication of water rights within one or more watersheds, this process also uses the courts, specifically the Idaho Water Court in Twin Falls to list and confirm all water rights and the properties to which those water rights belong. The adjudication binds all property owners and parties to the court’s decree of those water rights.
[i] Idaho Code §§ 42-101; 42-226.
[ii] Idaho Const., Art. XV, § 3.
[iii] Appropriation means “the identification of a beneficial use and place of in-stream use of the waters of a stream. It shall not be construed to require any kind of physical structure or physical diversion from the stream.” I.C. § 42-1502(a).
[iv] See Idaho Const., Art. XV, and Idaho Code § 42-101, et seq.
[v] See Idaho Code § 42-230.
[vi] Idaho Code § 42-202(1).
[ix] Idaho Code § 42-111(a).
[x] Idaho Const., Art. XV, § 3.

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