Nevada § 533.060 - Right to use limited to amount necessary; loss or abandonment of rights; no acquisition of prescriptive right; reservation of rights by State

§ 533.060. Right to use limited to amount necessary; loss or abandonment of rights; no acquisition of prescriptive right; reservation of rights by State

1. Rights to the use of water must be limited and restricted to as much as may be

necessary, when reasonably and economically used for irrigation and other beneficial

purposes, irrespective of the carrying capacity of the ditch. The balance of the water not so appropriated must be allowed to flow in the natural

stream from which the ditch draws its supply of water, and must not be considered

as having been appropriated thereby. 2. Rights to the use of surface water shall not be deemed to be lost or otherwise

forfeited for the failure to use the water therefrom for a beneficial purpose. 3. A surface water right that is appurtenant to land formerly used primarily for agricultural

purposes is not subject to a determination of abandonment if the surface water right: (a) Is appurtenant to land that has been converted to urban use; or (b) Has been dedicated to or acquired by a water purveyor, public utility or public

body for municipal use. 4. In a determination of whether a right to use surface water has been abandoned,

a presumption that the right to use the surface water has not been abandoned is created

upon the submission of records, photographs, receipts, contracts, affidavits or any

other proof of the occurrence of any of the following events or actions within a 10-year

period immediately preceding any claim that the right to use the water has been abandoned: (a) The delivery of water; (b) The payment of any costs of maintenance and other operational costs incurred in

delivering the water; (c) The payment of any costs for capital improvements, including works of diversion

and irrigation; or (d) The actual performance of maintenance related to the delivery of the water. 5. A prescriptive right to the use of the water or any of the public water appropriated

or unappropriated may not be acquired by adverse possession. Any such right to appropriate any of the water must be initiated by applying to the

State Engineer for a permit to appropriate the water as provided in this chapter. 6. The State of Nevada reserves for its own present and future use all rights to the

use and diversion of water acquired pursuant to chapter 462, Statutes of Nevada 1963,

or otherwise existing within the watersheds of Marlette Lake, Franktown Creek and

Hobart Creek and not lawfully appropriated on April 26, 1963, by any person other

than the Marlette Lake Company. Such a right must not be appropriated by any person without the express consent of

the Legislature.