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<br />001112 <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />purohase lan.d further awa:y from the source of water supply, say at Colorado <br />Springs, and utilize his appropriation for such land, in turn he may sell and <br />oonvey this lan.d with such water-rights as he may have therefor. And there is <br />nothing to prevent the said oity from purohasing both and thereafter changing <br />the place of use the same as any other appropriator. But why force the city <br />to buy the land if it only needs the water? <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />An examination of the case in 12 Colo. will show the conclusion there announc- <br />ed to be well supported upon principle and authority. .And it being thereby <br />established that the plaoe of use may be ohanged, it logioally follows that the <br />right to the use of the water for irrigation is a right not so inseparately <br />oonneoted with the land that it may not be separated therefrom. The right has <br />been treated and held as a property right in nUlllflrous oases. In Kidd v. Laird, <br />15 Cd. 16l, it is saidl "The oourt has never departed from the doctrine that <br />running water, so long as it oontinues to flow in its natural oourse, is not and <br />oannot be made the subject of private ownership. A right may be acquired to <br />its use whioh will be regarded and protected as property, but it has been dis- <br />tinctly declared in suoh cases that the right oarries with it no speoifio pro- <br />perty in the water itself." Mr. Gould in his work on water-rights, at seotion <br />234 says, "The right to water acquired by priority is the subject of property <br />and mtW be sold and conveyed. . .. ." <br /> <br />"The exolusive right to divert and use the vrater of a stream, as well as the <br />ditoh or other structure through whioh the diversion is effeoted, may be trans- <br />ferred and conveyed like other property or rights analogous to property." Pom- <br />eroy on Riparian Rights, par. 58. <br /> <br />The authorities seem to oonour in the oonolusion that the priority to the use <br />of water is a property right. To limit its transfer as contended by appellee <br />would in many instanoes destroy much of its value. It may happen that the soil <br />for whioh the original appropriation was made has been washed frNay and lost to <br />the owner, as the result of a freshet or otherwise. To say under such ciroum- <br />stanoes that he oould not sell the water-right to be used upon other lan.d would <br />be to deprive him of all benefits from such right. He grant that the water <br />itself is the property of the publio; its use, however, is subjeot to appropria- <br />tion, and in this case it is conceded that the owner has the paramount right <br />to suoh use. In our opinion this right may be transferred by sale so long as <br />the rights of others, as in this oase, are not injuriously e.:f'feoted thereby. <br />It' the priority to the use of water for agriou1 tural purposes is a right of <br />property, then the right to sell it is as essential and sacred as the right to <br />possess and use. Blaokstone saysl "The third absolute right inherent in every <br />Englishman is that of property, whioh consists in the free use, enjoyment and <br />disposal of all his aoquisitions without a:n:y control or diminution save Only <br />by the lalVs of the land." Blaokstone, book 1, p. 138. <br /> <br />What difference oan it make to others whether the owner of the priority <br />in this case uses it upon his own lend or sells it to others to be used upon <br />other lands? There is no claim of waste occuring betvleen the present points of <br />diversion and tffi place where the city is to take the water. Where a material <br />waste results from the ohange, a new feature is introduced -whioh need not be con- <br />sidered here. In chapter 5 of Angell on ITater-courses, a number of instances are <br />cited where -at common law water-rights were deolared to be the subject of sale, <br /> <br />-6- <br />