OCR Text |
Show 752 and the watering of stock that are made without waste. Claims of rights in basins, the waters of which have not been adjudicated, are re- corded by means of applications filed with the Oklahoma Planning and Resources Board. Provision is made for adjudications by the courts of rights to the use of waters of ground-water basins upon completion of surveys by the Board, and for decrees of adjudication containing findings of safe yield and annual recharge. After an adjudication, the remaining ground water subject to appropriation may be taken only by license issued by the Board upon application therefor. The Board is prohibited from issuing a permit where the result would be depletion of the ground-water supply in excess of the average annual rate of recharge; and likewise may not issue a permit to an applicant who does not own land overlying the ground-water basin or hold a valid lease from a landowner permitting withdrawal of water from the basin. Administration of rights of priority is vested in the Board. The general water appropriation statute provides for determinations of water rights, in suits brought by the Attorney General upon com- pletion of hydrographic surveys by the Board, as well as in suits initiated by private parties.245 The Board is given supervision over the appor- tionment of water according to licenses and decreed rights, with power to create water districts and appoint water masters.246 Oregon All water from all sources of water supply is declared by statute to belong to the public and, subject to existing rights, to be available for appropriation for beneficial use under the exclusive procedure pro- vided in the statute.247 However, certain waters of the State have been withdrawn from appropriation in a series of enactments, chiefly to preserve the natural flow for scenic and recreational purposes and the protection of fishlife. It is provided by statute that the laws relating to priorities of right to utilize the waters of running streams shall apply likewise to waste, spring, or seepage waters, but that the person on whose lands the seepage or spring waters first arise shall have the right to the use of such waters.248 The preference thus accorded to the landowner has been upheld by the Oregon Supreme Court in cases in which the flow from the spring did not pass from the land on which the spring was located, or did not form a natural stream.249 However, 245 Okla. Stats. 1941, Tit. 82, §§ 11 to 14, 29. 246 Okla. Stats. 1941, Tit. 82, §§ 57 to 83. 247 Oreg. Comp. Laws Ann., §§ 116-401 and 116-402. 248 Oreg. Comp. Laws Ann., § 116-701. 249Morrison v. Officer, 48 Oreg. 569, 570, 87 Pac. 896 (1906); David v. Brokaw, 121 Oreg. 591, 601, 256 Pac. 186 (1927); Henriciv. Paulson, 134 Oreg. 222, 224-225, 293 Pac. 424 (1930); Klamath Development Co. v. Lewis, 136 |