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Show 330 SUMMARIES OF THE STATE WATER RIGHTS SYSTEMS to the preliminary decree and obtain a hearing thereon before the district court.142 On the basis of the preliminary decree and any hearing that may have been held, the court shall enter a final decree. If no request for a hearing was filed, the preliminary decree automatically becomes the final decree.143 The final decree shall include, among other things, the name of the owner of the right, the amount of water, the date of priority, the purpose and place of use, a description of the land to which the right is appurtenant, the source of the water, the place and means of diversion, and the approximate time of year the water will be used.144 The final decree in each existing right determination is final and con- clusive as to all existing rights in the source or area under consideration. After the final decree there shall be no existing rights to water in the area or source under consideration except as stated in the decree.145 On the basis of the final decree, the Department shall issue a certificate of water right to each person decreed an existing right.146 A person whose existing rights and priorities are determined in a final decree may appeal the determination only if (1) he requested a hearing and appeared and entered objections to the preliminary decree, or (2) his rights as determined in the preliminary decree were altered as the result of a hearing requested by another person at which he appeared.147 Administration of Water Rights and Distribution of Water No State administrative authority has control over the exercise of water rights and distribution of water in Montana. As of the effective date of the 1973 Montana Water Use Act,148 the district courts were directed to supervise the distribution of water among all appropriators, including the supervision of all water commissioners appointed prior to the effective date of the Act.149 If a water controversy arises with respect to a source of water in which existing rights have not been determined, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation may, within a reasonable time, begin proceedings to deter- mine existing rights in the source.150 If the Department does not proceed with 142Id. §89-876. l43Id. §89-877(1). 144Id. §89-877(4). l4sId. §89-877(5). 146Id. §89-879. 147W. §89-878. 148 See the discussion of this Act at notes 36-50, 63-80, and 135-147 supra. 149 Mont. Rev. Codes Ann. §89-896(1) (Supp. 1973). "The supervision shall be governed by the principle that first in time is first in right." Id. 150 See notes 135-147 supra, regarding determination of existing rights. |