MORE Land Buying Tips From the Pros: How to Buy Rural Real Estate by Pat Porter

Author:Pat Porter [Porter, Pat]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: RecLand Realty, LLC
Published: 2017-05-17T16:00:00+00:00

Water Rights

If you are from the East Coast, the idea of water rights is likely an unfamiliar concept. Water rights are an enormously complex subject, but the basic idea is that people must own (i.e., have title to) any water they divert from rivers, streams, or creeks or extract from aquifers for irrigation or storage (i.e., lakes, ponds). Laws regarding water rights can vary widely from state to state, but given the relatively small amount of rainfall in the West, high-quality water rights significantly increase the value of ranches.

Just because a creek or river runs through a property does not mean the landowner automatically owns the water rights. While you may be allowed to fish or have livestock drink from the creek, you cannot legally divert the water to irrigate or build a pond without a specific, deeded property right. Additionally, owning a water right does not necessarily mean you can irrigate your meadows freely – depending on the right’s priority date, you may be forced by the state to curtail your water usage during dry years.

Because of the complexity of water rights and their ability to significantly influence the value of a ranch, it is important that you fully understand all aspects of the water rights associated with a potential ranch purchase.

1. Examine the historical usage: Many states have “use it or lose it” laws requiring that landowners use their water regularly or risk having the rights classified as “abandoned.”

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