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Code · U.S. Code · Title 43 - PUBLIC LANDS · CHAPTER 15— APPROPRIATION OF WATERS; RESERVOIR SITES · § 661

§ 661. Appropriation of waters on public lands; rights of way for canals and ditches

429 words·~2 min read·/usc/title-43/section-661

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Whenever, by priority of possession, rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes, have vested and accrued, and the same are recognized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and protected in the same; and the right of way for the construction of ditches and canals for the purposes herein specified is acknowledged and confirmed; but whenever any person, in the construction of any ditch or canal, injures or damages the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage.
All patents granted, or preemption or homesteads allowed, shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rights, or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights, as may have been acquired under or recognized by this section.
(R.S. §§ 2339, 2340.)
Connections40 cite this · traces to 2
Cited by 40 sections · top 24
U.S. Code
7 references not yet in our index
  • act July 26, 1866, ch. 262, § 9
  • 14 Stat. 253
  • act July 9, 1870, ch. 235, § 17
  • 16 Stat. 218
  • Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 706(a)
  • 90 Stat. 2793
  • section 701 of Pub. L. 94–579
Citation graph
cites case law
§ 661
Appropriation of waters on public lands; rights of way for canals and ditches
U.S.C.×28
Fed. Reg.×6
Bills×4
C.F.R.×1
Stat.×1
Actact July 26, 1866, ch. 262, § 9
Stat.14 Stat. 253
Actact July 9, 1870, ch. 235, § 17
Stat.16 Stat. 218
Pub. L.Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 706(a)
Cites 9 · showing 7Cited by 40 across 5 sources
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