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28/, agricultural 29/, industrial 30/, municipal 31/, dust con- trol 32/ and land rreeclamation.33/ Beneficial use of water is defined to require efficient use of the water and to preclude waste.34/ An appropriator is entitled to take only so much water as he actually needs and any surplus must be returned to the stream.35/ Therefore, a vested water right may not be obtained for water diverted but not needed for beneficial use. 4. Absolute and conditional water rights a. Absolute water rights As stated above, all that is necessary for the appropriation of a water right is diversion of the water and application to benefi- cial use. Once this has been accomplished, the owner has an ab- solute water right which entitles him to use, in priority, a cer- tain portion of the waters of the natural stream.36/ b. Conditional water rights Speaking generally, the priority date of a water right is estab- lished by the time at which water is first diverted and placed to beneficial use. This method for determining priorities works well for those who can build their diversion works and apply wa- ter to beneficial use within a reasonably short period of time. However, large projects, such as some reservoirs and transmountain diversions, require a long time to complete. If the priority date for such projects were determined by the date of application of water to beneficial use, many such projects would not have been built because there would have been no assur- ance that when they were completed sufficient water would have remained for appropriation. The doctrine of conditional water rights evolved to solve this problem. A conditional water right means a right to perfect a water right with a certain priority upon the completion with reasonable dili- gence of the appropriation upon which such water right is to be based.37. A conditional water right decree determines that the first step toward appropriating a certain amount of water has been taken and the date upon which this occurred.38/ (1) Elements of a conditional water right To initiate an appropriation for a conditional water right, two elements must coexist. First, the appropriator must have formed an intent to take water and apply it to beneficial use.39/ Sec- -9-