| OCR Text |
Show 286 LOSS OF WATER RIGHTS IN WATERCOURSES Washington.-Any person entitled to divert or withdraw waters of the State through any appropriation authorized by legislation prior to the enactment of chapter 117, Laws 1917, or by custom or general adjudication, or any "person hereafter [after July 1,1967] entitled to divert or withdraw waters of the state through an appropriation authorized under" the pertinent statutes, who abandons the same, shall relinquish such right or portion thereof, which right shall revert to the State and the affected waters become available for appropriation.175 Statutory Forfeiture Rights Subject to Forfeiture Chiefly appropriative rights.-The statutory provisions governing forfeiture of water rights generally pertain solely to appropriative rights.176 Failure to exercise an appropriative right to use water of a watercourse subjects it to loss by forfeiture pursuant to the statutory provisions.177 Generally not riparian rights.-(I) The riparian right, in jurisdictions in which it has full recognition, is a right in perpetuity whether it is exercised or not, in the absence of loss or separation from the land in one of the ways described in chapter 10.178 A number of State statutes may limit or cut off unused riparian rights as of a certain date or time, as against appropriators. portion of the water. Such water shall again be subject to appropriation. Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 7519a, § 2 (Supp. 1970). The Texas Supreme Court has said that i an action to partially cancel a permit or certified filing under this section "allows the defenses of bona fide intention, diligence, and justification." [Emphasis added.] Texas Water Rights Comm'n v. Wright, supra at 650. Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 7519a, § 1, relating to complete cancellation of permits or certified filings, and § 2 (Supp. 1970) and the Wright case, as well as article 7544 mentioned above, are discussed later under "Abandonment and Forefeiture Interrelated-Some State Situations-Texas." 175Wash. Rev. Code §§90.14.160 and 90.14.180 (Supp. 1970), enacted in 1967. Section 90.14.170, relating to abandonment of rights to divert or withdraw State waters by virtue of ownership of land abutting a stream, lake, or watercourse, is noted under "Rights in Watercourses Subject to Abandonment," supra. The other portions of these three provisions are noted in the subtopics "Rights Subject to Forfeiture-Generally not riparian rights" and "Statutory Provisions: By States-Washington" under "Statu- tory Forfeiture," infra. "'Regarding the loss of prescriptive rights by statutory forfeiture, see "Prescription-Loss of Prescriptive Rights," infra. 177 In addition, in California, the Water Resources Control Board is given authority to revoke a license, subject to judicial review, "at any time" after its issuance if any of its terms and conditions are not being observed. Cal. Water Code §§1675-1677 (West Supp. 1970). Most State statutes, however, have no similar provision for revocation or cancellation of a certificate or license as such. I78See "The Riparian Right-Property Characteristics-Severance of Riparian Right from Land." |
