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<br />as long as the use continues, to the exclusion of subse-
<br />quent users. The principle of "first-in-time-first-in-right"
<br />embodied in this customary system was quickly caofirmed by
<br />the state courts, !I and refined and codified by state
<br />statute. 91 Most of the western states have now adopted
<br />comprehensive water codes based primarily ,on appropriation,
<br />which provide for recognition, administration and enforcement
<br />of water rights and, in several of those states, for large-scale
<br />planning of water resource use. 101
<br />
<br />Although statutory and case law differ in many respects
<br />among the western states, there are several common principles
<br />that distinguish the appropriative systems from riparian
<br />systems. See generally Trelease, "Federal-State Relations,"
<br />supra n.6, at 29-33; 1 Clark, supra, 5 4.
<br />
<br />First, the right is based on the beneficial use of water,
<br />rather than on ownership of appurtenant land. Unless there
<br />has been an actual application of water to a beneficial use,
<br />there has been no valid appropriation. The beneficial use
<br />is also the measure of the right; an appropriator is entitled
<br />to only that quantity of water beneficially used in any
<br />given year upon particular land. ~ 5 Clark, supra, 5 408.1.
<br />
<br />!I See, ~.~., Irwin v. Phillips,S Cal. 140,63 Am. Dec. ll3
<br />(1855); Lux v. Haggin, 69 Cal. 255, 10 Pac. 674 (1886);
<br />Coffin v. Lefthand Ditch Co., 6 Colo. 443 (l882).
<br />
<br />~I See, ~.~., Cal. Civ. Code, tit. 8, pt. 4, div. 2, 55 1410-
<br />22 (1872); Colo. Laws 1862, ch. 28, 5 13; Colo. Laws 1864,
<br />5 32; Mont. Laws l865,p. 30; 55 l-2 Bannack Stats. 367;
<br />55 69-70 Mont. Sess. Laws 57; Laws of Dec. 9, 1850, Laws of
<br />Utah (1866) ch. 110-111; Law of Feb. 18, 1852, Laws of Utah
<br />(1866), ch. 117; Law of Jan. 17, 1862, Laws of Utah (1866) ch.
<br />119; Hills Laws Ann. (Oregon) 5 3832 (1864); Howell Code
<br />(Arizona) 55 1, 3 (1864).
<br />
<br />101 For a general description of state water laws, see R. Dewsnup
<br />~D. Jensen, A Summary-Digest of State 'Water Laws (l973) (study
<br />prepared for the National Water Commission) and 3 W. Hutchins,
<br />Water Rights Laws in the Nineteen Western States (U.S. Dept. of
<br />Agriculture Misc. Pub. No. 1206, 1971). Nine of the western
<br />states, most notably California, have in the past recognized
<br />some limited forms of riparian rights on private lands, in
<br />addition to appropriative rights. See 1 Clark, supra, 5 l8.2(b).
<br />By statute or constitutional amendment those states have largely
<br />eliminated or severely circumscribed reliance on riparian owner-
<br />ship, and consequently riparian rights now have, for the most
<br />part, only historic significance. See 5 Clark, supra, 5 420.
<br />The only states in which new uses may be initiated by exercising
<br />a riparian right are California and, to a limited extent,
<br />Nebraska. ~ F. Trelease, Water Law, supra, at 11-12.
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