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Show 734 from that taken in the solution of water-right questions in previous decisions. Theretofore the court had approached these questions largely on the basis of individual interest alone; but under the declaration that all water within the State was dedicated to the use of the people, sub- ject to State control and regulation, "we now approach them upon the basis of the interest of the people of the state without losing sight of the beneficial use the individual is making or has the right to make of the water. Unused or unusable rights predicated alone upon theory be- come of little if any importance." Broad statements in earlier opin- ions-such as statements to the effect that the riparian owner is entitled to the flow of the stream without diminution or alteration- must now be disregarded or modified to harmonize with this declaration. All of the questions submitted to the court, asking if the legislation was unconstitutional upon specific grounds, were answered in the negative. The 1945 law vests control of the water resources of the State in accordance with rights of prior appropriation in the Chief Engineer of the Division of Water Resources. Appropriations for different purposes that conflict take precedence in the following order: "Domestic, munici- pal, irrigation, industrial, recreational, and water power uses." The right terminates when the holder ceases for three years or more to use it for the purposes authorized in his permit or certificate. Provision is made for determinations of rights by the Chief Engineer, subject to appeal to the district court, and for the distribution of water according to decrees of adjudication. Montana The statutes provide that "the unappropriated water of any river, stream, ravine, coulee, spring, lake, or other natural source of supply" may be appropriated. Also, "an appropriator may impound flood, seepage, and waste waters in a reservoir and thereby appropriate the same."124 Montana has no centralized State administrative procedure for the acquisition of appropriative water rights. A statutory procedure governs the appropriation of water from adjudicated streams, and a separate procedure provided by statute applies to unadjudicated streams but apparently is optional with the intending appropriator; but the State Engineer has no control in any case. The procedures are as follows: With respect to unadjudicated waters, the statute provides that the appropriator shall post a notice at the point of intended diversion, file a notice of appropriation in the county records and begin construction within prescribed periods of time, and prosecute the appropriation "* Mont. Rev. Codes 1947, Ann., § 89-801. |