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Show 296 LOSS OF WATER RIGHTS IN WATERCOURSES enacted by the legislature following a decision in which the Oregon Supreme Court stated that to constitute abandonment of a water right by nonuse alone, such nonuse must have been continuous for a period equal to that of the statute of limitations, that is, 10 years.229 Administrative procedures for cancelling abandoned water rights was provided in 1955.230 The Oregon Supreme Court took cognizance of the exception of cities and towns from the operation of the forfeiture statute, and noted that special provision was made for them in view of their need to anticipate their supplies of water because of the growth of population. But the State was not mentioned; and the supreme court held that the legislation must be held to apply to the State of Oregon as well as to any private owner of a water right.231 South Dakota.-When any person entitled to appropriate water fails to beneficially use the water, in whole or in part, for the purpose for which it was appropriated, for 3 years, such unused appropriated water shall revert to the public and be regarded as unappropriated public water.232 In a case decided in 1913, in which the validity of an earlier forfeiture statute233 was under attack, the South Dakota Supreme Court held that this provision was "void as to a riparian owner but valid as to one who is no more than an appropriator without riparian right. A riparian right to use such waters of a flowing stream cannot be lost by disuse."234 In 1955, the South Dakota Legislature enacted the forfeiture provision summarized above which expressly only applies to "appropriated water." Texas.-Permits issued by the Texas Water Rights Commission or certified filings235 are presumed to have been willfully abandoned when no part of the water to which they pertain has been put to beneficial use for 10 consecutive years under the terms of the permit or certified filing. The statute provides procedures for cancellation proceedings by the Commission.236 239Hedges v. Riddle, 63 Oreg. 257, 259, 127 Pac. 548 (1912). M0Oreg. Laws 1955, ch. 670, Rev. Stat. § § 540.621-.650 (Supp. 1969). 331 Withers v. Reed, 194 Oreg. 541, 558-560, 243 Pac. (2d) 283 (1952). M2S. Dak. Comp. Laws Ann. §46-5-37 (1967). 233 S. Dak. Laws 1907, ch. 180, §46, which provided that when a party entitled to the use of water failed to beneficially use all or any portion of the water that he claimed for a period of 3 years, such unused waters reverted to the public. 234St. Germain Irrigating Ditch Co. v. Hawthorne Ditch Co., 32 S. Dak. 260, 268, 143 N.W. 124(1913). 235 Declarations of appropriation or affidavits filed with the State pursuant to the water appropriation act of 1913. J36Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 7519a, § 1 (Supp. 1970). This provision is discussed at notes 339-345 infra. Article 7519a, § 2, regarding the loss of a portion of one's appropriative water right for 10 consecutive years' nonuse under certain conditons, is i discussed at note 346 infra. Another statute, art. 7544 (1954), previously enacted, provides that a statutory appropriation "wilfully abandoned" during any 3 successive years is forfeited, and the |