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-.', ., ~ 3 fjdud~_l DRAFT WATER AND RELATED LAND RESOURCES SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN Water Rights and Compacts Acquisition of Water Rights The Colorado Doctrine of Prior Appropriation was adopted in the state of Colorado in the very early irrigation days. The Colorado Doctrine as set forth in the State Constitution, adopted in 1876, and judicial decisions states that: (1) Water in its natural course is the property of the public, and is not subject to private owner- ship; (2) a vested right to use the water may be acquired by appro- priation and application to beneficial use; (3) the person first in time to use the water is first in right; and (4) beneficial use is the basis, the measure and the limit of the right. An appropriation is accomplished by the actual diversion of water from a natural water course, followed within a reasonable time thereafter by the application of such water to a beneficial use. An important condition of the rule is that the initiation of the appro- priation must be followed by the diligent construction of the necessary works and the application of the water to beneficial use. If due diligence is proven, the date of priority reverts back to the initia- tion of the work, usually the date of the making of the ini tia 1 survey. The Colorado Constitution sets up an order of preferential use as follows: (1) domestic, (2) irrigation, and (3) industrial. This preference for certain uses must not be confused with priorities. A preferred use does not thereby automatically obtain a senior priority. The only practical effect of the preference is to give a preferred use the right to condemn a subordinate use. As an example, on '.