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Prior Appropriation Doctrine <br />•Prior Appropriation Doctrine means those that put the <br />water to use first are entitled to get their water first <br />during periods of water shortage – first in time, first in <br />right. <br />•An appropriation is made when an individual physically <br />takes water from a stream (or underground aquifer) <br />and places that water to some type of beneficial use. <br />The first person to ever appropriate water and apply it <br />to use has the first right to use that water within a <br />particular stream system. This person (after receiving a <br />court decree verifying their priority status) then <br />becomes the senior water right holder on the stream, <br />and that water right must be satisfied before any other <br />water rights can be fulfilled. <br />