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Show INDIANA 295 problems involving the development, use, and management of the State's water resources.27 The other State agency dealing with the management of the State's water resources is the Department of Conservation, which adminis- tered the Ground Water Conservancy Act discussed in section 2.1, supra, and section 4, infra, and the Lake Protection Act.28 3. Surface Waters Surface waters of a watercourse are those which flow in a definite direction and within banks which form a well-defined channel.29 3.1 Method of Acquiring Rights A riparian water right arises by virtue of the ownership of land abutting a watercourse or through which a watercourse flows and the riparian water right is an incident of the ownership of the abutting lands.30 There is no requirement that the riparian owner put the water to a beneficial use in order to acquire or protect his right to the water.31 Riparian rights are thus normally acquired by purchasing land adjacent to a watercourse, but they also may be acquired separate from the land. A riparian water right may be separated from the riparian lands by a deed or other instrument of conveyance and may be conveyed or reserved by the grantor apart from the land.32 How- ever, if the deed is silent as to water use or water rights, the water right is transferred a? a part of the riparian land. A right to use water separate from the riparian land may also be transferred involuntarily under the doctrine of adverse use. This occurs where there has been a prescriptive use of the water for a period of 20 years if all the elements necessary to demonstrate the adverse nature of the right are established.33 Any person, whether or not he owns lands contiguous to a water- course, may divert the flood waters of any watercourse for a useful purpose if he first obtains permission from the Flood Control and Water Resources Commission.34 However, such a diversion cannot be made if it injures landowners or users of water in the watershed in which the watercourse is located, or if it will limit any existing rights to use the water. Flood waters of a watercourse are defined by statute as water which is flowing or standing above the top level of or outside the banks of the watercourse.35 » Sec. 27-1707. 28 Chap. 27-6. 29 Sec. 27-1407(4) and Gwinn v. Myers et al., 234 Ind. 560, 129 N.E. 2nd 225 (1955). *°City of Loganaport v. Uhl et al., 99 Ind. 531 (1884). 81 City of Elkhart v. Christiana Hydraulics, 223 Ind. 242, 59 N.E. 2d 353 (1945). <®City of Loganaport v. Uhl et al., 99 Ind. 531 (1884) ; and City of Elkhart v. Chris- tiana Hydraulics, 223 Ind. 242, 59 N.E. 2d 353 (1945). S3 Valparaiso City Water Co. v. Dickover. 17 Ind., app. 233, 46 N.E. 591 (1897) ; and City of Logansport v. Uhl et al., 99 Ind. 531 (1884). s* Sec. 27-1406(1). sb Sec. 27-1407(7). |
