A concept of water ownership in which the landowner's right to use available water is based on a government-administered permit system.
Related information about prior appropriation:
- Prior-appropriation water rights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Prior appropriation water rights, sometimes known as the Colorado Doctrine in   reference to the U.S. Supreme Court case Wyoming v. Colorado, is a system of ...
 
- Prior appropriation - Water Wiki
 Jul 11, 2008 ... Prior appropriation dictates that the first individual user to withdraw water from a   source for a beneficial use has the right to the same amount of ...
 
- Prior Appropriation Law
 The use of water in this state is governed by what is known as the "Prior   Appropriation System". This system of water allocation controls who uses how   much ...
 
- Water Rights Law: Prior Appropriation - FindLaw
 Mar 26, 2008 ... The scarcity of water in the Rocky Mountain and southwestern states has led to   the development of a system of water allocation very different ...
 
- The Future of Prior Appropriation in the New West - Water ...
 The distinguishing feature of prior appropriation is its continual evolution in ...   Because prior appropriation is grounded in both abstract principles of justice ...
 
- Prior Appropriation - river, sea, important, types, system
 The prior appropriation doctrine is a legal concept that evolved in the American   West as a means of establishing the right to use scarce water from rivers and ...
 
- Water Rights: Division of Water Resources - U.S. Fish and Wildlife ...
 Under the prior appropriation system, shortages are not shared. Some western   States statutes contain priority or preference categories of water use, under which ...
 
- Prior appropriation water rights - WaterWiki
 Prior appropriation water rights, sometimes known as the "Colorado Doctrine", is   a system of...