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The second source is the records of the state engineer. These <br />records contain all water right decrees, records of well permits <br />and a tabulation 119/ of water rights. The decrees are indexed <br />by name of structure and by name of owner/claimant. well permits <br />are also indexed by owners. Finally, one version of the tabula- <br />tion is an owner/claimant list of all decreed water rights. A <br />search should be made of all these records to identify water <br />rights held in the agency's name. By using these two methods, a <br />majority of the agency's water rights will be discovered. <br />The above-mentioned sources of information are not foolproof. <br />They may not reveal water rights not decreed in the agency's <br />name, interests in ditch companies, unused water rights, water <br />used under lease agreements or unadjudicated (undecreed) water <br />rights. The only solution to this problem is continued diligent <br />monitoring of agency water use. <br />When the process of identifying agency water rights has been com- <br />pleted, the rights should be catalogued. The catalogue should <br />show the rights, their location, their permitted uses, whether <br />the rights have been adjudicated and, if adjudicated, whether the <br />decree is absolute or conditional. All unadjudicated water <br />rights should be immediately adjudicated. For all conditional <br />water rights, steps should be taken to insure that the agency is <br />aware of its responsibility to proceed with diligence in perfect- <br />ing those rights. <br />2. Management of water rights <br />a. Utilization <br />It is necessary to insure that agency water rights are properly <br />utilized. Utilization is a question of use generally and of the <br />proper type and place of use of the water right. An adjudicated <br />water right must be used in accordance with its decree. If the <br />use varies from the decree in terms of either point of diversion, <br />time, type or place, then an application for change of use should <br />be filed with the appropriate water court. In the alternative, <br />any unauthorized uses must be discontinued. If the right is <br />unadjudicated, a decree should be obtained which confirms the <br />present uses. If a water right is not being used at all, the <br />agency should begin use of the right as soon as practicable to <br />avoid problems of abandonment or diminution of the right by re- <br />duced historic usage. <br />b. Protection <br />Protection of a water right is only partially accomplished by <br />-26-