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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />--0007 <br />. <br /> <br />-4- <br /> <br />~:':-:-~'-! <br /> <br />C~t furthermore held that the states could not destro~ or Interfere <br />'IlJ.th_thtq~ar-a~un:Lpower---0f-the-tJnTfea-STatesTo secure the navTgab Illty <br />of navIgable streams. IbId. <br /> <br />In the arid Western states. the state legislatures adopted the appropri- <br />atIon doctrIne, whIch grew out of local mining customs, The appro- <br />priatIon doctrine permits beneficial water uses under a priority <br />system ("first In time Is first In right") without regard to ownership <br />of a watercourse's abuttIng lands or the Impacts on downstream riparian <br />landowners. WIth the settlement of the publIc lands, conf/lct arose <br />over the wa1er -rlqhts--of-feaera r patentees cia 1m Inq-rt-Pill"'-J-an,-I-gh"ts and <br />-- <br />pr lor appropr I ators whose rights were recoqn I zed_undec-tocaJ_' aws an d <br />cu stoms . - <br /> <br />~.~~~ <br /> <br />Beg I nn I ng In 1866, Cg~gress pas_s_ed three statutes wh Ich reso I ved th I s <br />conflict between private users In favor of prior appropriators. These <br />three statutes stll I, more than one hundred years. later, provide the <br />basIs for s1-ate regulatory a"thr.rtty over water rIghts. The Acts of July <br />-26~-T8-66, 14 Stat. 253, and July 9, 1870, 16 Stat. 218, 43 U.S.C. !i 661 <br />(1970), r~gnlzed and sanctioned possessory rlgo+6 tQ ~~he publ Ie <br />lands asserted under local laws and customs. thereby va/ldatlng, In effect, <br />-State app-roprlatlon water law procedures tor orlvate users and previous <br />tresp~ssers on the RUbllc lands. Federal Power Commission v. Oreoon. <br />349 U.S. 435, 447-8 (1955); Broder v. Natoma WaTer and Mlnlno Co., 101 <br />U.S, 274, 276 (1879); JennIson v. KIrk, 98 U.S. 453 118781; for background <br />on the 1866 Act, see United States v. Gerlach LIve Stock Co., 339 U,S. <br />725, 745-49 (f9.0).~/ ~y_ the.:;_e_'-86tLao_d_1870 Acts, Congress In effect <br />~al~e~lt~_prop~lejary and rlpaLl~~to water on the publlc:aomaln <br />to the extent that water 15 aRprO[1rlated b~ members orthe-p.ub-t-Ic under <br />state law In <;;.orttoJ:manc.e-"l.l:thJ.h.e--f),-an:t-o.f-au:t-l:lQJ:-l+y fr1llnrl In-fnese two <br />_~cts. Thus. these two Acts confine assertion of Inchoate federal water <br />rights to unappropriated waters that exist at any point In time. <br /> <br />2/ The Mining Act of 1866 provided, In pertinent part: <br /> <br />[WJhenever, by prIority of possession, rIghts <br />to the use of water for mIning, agrIcultural, <br />manufacturing, or other purposes, have vested <br />and accrued, and the same are recognized and <br />acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and <br />the decisions of courts, the possessors and <br />owners of such vested rights shal I be main- <br />tained and protected In the same. <br /> <br />The /870 Act provided that "all patents granted, or preemption or home- <br />steads allowed, shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rIghts." <br />