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<br /> <br />so in such manner as not to unreasonably interfere with its law- <br />ful use by others above or below him on the same stream, The <br />rights of all proprietors on the stream to use water for <br />"artificial" purposes are equal. Use of water for irrigation has <br />been described by the Iowa court as an "artificial" use as has <br />the distribution and sale of water by a municipality (Willis v, <br />City of Perry, 92 Iowa 297, 60 N. W, 727), <br /> <br />"Surface water" is defined by the Iowa Supreme Court as <br />water of a vagrant or temporary character arising by precipi- <br />tation or snow melt and not yet part of a stream or watercourse <br />(Hunt v, Smith, 238 Iowa 543, 28 N. W, 2d 213), An owner of <br />land has an absolute right to such water on his land and may use <br />it as he wishes, Note the following definitions contained in the <br />Iowa Water Rights Law (Section 455A ,1, Iowa Code 1966): <br /> <br />"Surface water" means the water occurring on the surface <br />of the ground, <br /> <br />"Ground water" means that water occurring ,beneath the <br />surface of the ground, <br /> <br />"Diffused waters" means waters arising by precipitation and <br />r snowmelt, and not yet a part of any water- <br />course or basin and shall include capillary <br />soil water, <br /> <br />Riparian rights are appurtenant to the land to which they attach, <br />passing with the land from owner to owner without specific <br />mention in the deeds, Such rights can be condemned and can be <br />severed from the land by express conveyance, They are not <br />lost by mere non-user but can be lost by prescription or adverse <br />user (Fennema v, Menninga, 236 Iowa 543, 19 N, W. 2d 689), <br /> <br />In general, riparian rights attach to underground streams <br />which flow in a well-defined channel capable of being distinctly <br />traced the same as if they were flowing on the surface (Willis <br />v, City of Perry, 92 Iowa 297, 60 N. W, 727; Burroughs v, <br />Saterlee, 67 Iowa 396, 25 N, W, 808), Principal exceptions to <br />the surface stream rule arise due to the difficulty of returning <br />water underground, Consistent with generally accepted know- <br />ledge and theories regarding such phenomena, however, ground <br />water is presumed to be percolating water until it is proved <br /> <br />l6 <br />