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Show OKLAHOMA 609 In addition, the act protected claims initiated prior to its passage. Between 1905 and 1910, there were two appropriation acts (1908 and 1909) which in varying degrees contained remnants of the 1897 and 1905 acts. In the 1910 revision of the statutes,51 the 1905 act was again adopted in its entirety except for the provision, noted above, which recognized preexisting appropriations. This was not corrected until 1925 when the legislature passed an act which provided that in all claims to water initiated prior to November 15, 1907 (date of statehood), the right shall relate back to the initiation of the claim and the beneficial use of water.52 At the time of the recent revisions of the water statutes in 1963 and 1972, there existed, therefore, the 1890 riparian and diffused surface water act and the 1905 appropriation act, as amended in 1925. By 1963, the State supreme court had considered the appro- priation acts in only three cases.53 In none of these did the court determine whether the 1905 act provided the exclusive method of acquiring a water right or what criteria were to be applied in deter- mining priorities among appropriators and riparians whose claims preceded or followed the 1905 legislation considered. The 1963 revisers were, thus, faced with the assumption that the two regimes did in fact exist, but the nature of their cohabitation was something of a mystery. In cases in which appropriation rights were involved, existing legislation had been pretty much emasculated by a court decision which held that the completion of a hydrographic survey and a general adjudication of the rights of all appropriators on the particular stream were conditions precedent to the issuance of a permit. It is true that the 1905 legislation did authorize such surveys and stream adjudications, but the Oklahoma court was the only court in the country to decide that these steps were necessary before valid appropriation rights could be acquired. The 1963 amendments were intended to bring about some recon- ciliation of the riparian and appropriation systems which had ex- isted since 1890 and 1897. The new legislation appears in different parts of the Oklahoma code. Thus, the 1890 riparian act, as amended, will be found in the volume dealing with "Property." 54 Other sec- tions relating to existing uses, riparian rights, and appropriation rights appear in the volume on "Waters and Water Rights." 55 This separation is confusing to one who approaches the Oklahoma statutes for the first time. Moreover, a few of the new sections may be some- what deficient in drafting. Professor Rarick has, however, done an excellent job of explaining the principal provisions.56 Space does not permit a close examination of the language of each section, but a brief summary of what appear to be the principal changes is in order: 61 See 1 Okla. Rev. Laws, sec. 3636 (1910). MLaws Okla., ch. 76, sec. 1 125 (1925). 53 Gates v. Settlers' Millinfl, Canal d Res. Co., 19 Okla. 83, 81 Pac. 856 (1907); Gay v. Hicks, 33 Okla. 675, 124 Pac. 1077 (1912) ; Owens v. Snider, 52 Okla. 772, 153 Pac. 833 (1915). Since space does not permit a detailed analyses of each of these cases, consult Rarick I, pp. 27-37. The author also examines four general adjudications during this period which were not appealed to the supreme court (pp. 37-44). M Title 60, sec. 60. 56 Sees. 105.1 et seq. B« See Rarick II. |