Early Water Laws in the Rocky Mountain Region Van Sickle v. Haines – Nevada, 1872 (7 Nev. 249); Thorp v. Freed – Montana, 1872 (1 Mont. 651); Munroe v. Ivie – Utah, 1880 (2 Utah 535); Jones v. Adams – Nevada, 1885 (6 P. 442); Drake v. Earhart – Idaho, 1890 (23 P. 541)
“[T]he maxim, ‘first in time, first in right,’ should be considered the settled law here … whether or not it is a beneficent rule, it is the lineal descendant of the law of necessity … Instead of attempting to divide it among all, thus making it unprofitable to any, or instead of applying the common-law riparian doctrine … they disregarded the traditions of the past, and established as the only rule suitable to their situation that of prior appropriation.” - Justice _, in Drake
Colorado and Wyoming: Shapers of Water Law for the Arid West
Coffin v. Left Hand Ditch Co. – Colorado, 1882 (6 Colo. 443); Moyer v. Preston – Wyoming, 1896 (44 P. 845); Farmers’ Independent Ditch Co. v. Agricultural Ditch Co. – Colorado, 1896 (45 P. 444); Farm Investment Co. v. Carpenter – Wyoming, 1900 (61 P. 258)
“The water of every natural stream not heretofore appropriated … is hereby declared to be the property of the public … The right to divert the unappropriated waters of any natural stream to beneficial uses shall never be denied.” - Colorado Constitution, 1876
“Water being essential to industrial prosperity, of limited amount, and easy of diversion from its natural channels, its control must be in the State, which, in providing for its use, shall equally guard all the varied interests involved.” – Wyoming Constitution, 1890 | “Although [riparian rights] may operate unjustly in come cases, still, as a general rule, none more just and reasonable can be adopted for this state. It is a rule which gives the greatest right to the greatest number, authorizing each to make a reasonable use of it, providing he does no injury to the others equally entitled to it with himself; whilst the rule of prior appropriation here advocated would authorize the first person who might choose to make use of or divert a stream, to use or even waste the whole to the utter ruin of others who might wish it.” - Justice _, in Van Sickle
“ The resources of the country cannot be developed, and our valleys cannot be reclaimed and become inhabited, unless the waters of the streams can be used in an equitable manner, to cause the earth to bring forth its fruits … Is it not the true policy of this Territory to erect such a system of laws here as shall distribute our short supply of water to the best advantage to all our people? The common law applied to this country is ample and sufficient to secure this much desired end.” - Justice _, in Thorp
“[E]xcept in a few favored sections, artificial irrigation for agriculture is an absolute necessity. Water in the various streams thus acquires a value unknown in moister climates. … [V]ast expenditures of time and money have been made in reclaiming and fertilizing by irrigation portions of our unproductive territory. Houses have been built, and permanent improvements made; the soil has been cultivated, and thousands of acres have been rendered immensely valuable, with the understanding that appropriations of water would be protected. Deny the doctrine of priority or superiority of right by priority of appropriation, and a great part of the value of all this prop is at once destroyed.” - Justice _, in Left Hand Ditch
“This [public] use [system] and the doctrine supporting it are founded upon the necessities growing out of natural conditions, and are absolutely essential to the development of the material resources of the country …The people as a whole are intensely interested in its [water’s] economical, orderly, and inexpensive distribution. It is a matter of public concern that the various diversions shall occur with as little friction as possible, and that there shall be such a reasonable and just use and conservation of the waters as shall redound more greatly to the general welfare, and advance material wealth and prosperity.” – Justice _, in Carpenter
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EMPIRE OF LAWS - The Legal History of the 50 American States > 9. ROCKY MOUNTAIN LEGAL HISTORY > 9.1 The Frontier Era (1850-1900) > 9.1.1 Rocky Mountain (1850-1900): Constitutions as Barometers of Political Change >