From application to license
All water in South Dakota belongs to the people, and nearly every use other than domestic needs a water right. The Water Management Board issues two forms: a water right permit for a new use, and a vested water right for a use that predates March 2, 1955.
A permit allows five years to build the project and four more to put the water to use. The holder files a Notice of Completion of Works, staff inspect the project, and a water license is issued for what was built. At that point the permit becomes a water right.
Domestic use
Domestic use takes precedence over all appropriative uses and needs no permit. It covers household needs, stock watering, a noncommercial garden or orchard of up to one acre, and uses at schools and parks. DANR's general limit is 25,920 gallons a day (an average of 18 gallons per minute) or a peak pump rate of 25 gpm. Above either figure, a permit is required.
Domestic users may register a well with the Board to document its location, output and water quality. Any dam across a dry draw that holds more than 25 acre-feet needs a permit, even for domestic use.
Irrigation rights stay with the land
Under SDCL 46-5-33, an irrigation right can't be transferred apart from its land except as the law allows, and a transfer of title to the land carries the irrigation right with it. The main exception lets irrigation rights move to domestic use or a water distribution system, and only if older rights and domestic users aren't harmed.
DANR's Water Rights Program handles transfers of ownership on its records. Confirm the owner on file when buying irrigated ground.
The three-year rule and the records
SDCL 46-5-37 returns unused water to the public after three years of nonuse. DANR says water must be used at least once every three years. The clock pauses when water was unavailable, when a legal proceeding blocked use, when using it would waste water, or during enrollment in a federal acreage reserve or production quota program. Only the Water Management Board can cancel a right, after a hearing.
The Water Rights Program's online database lists permits and rights, and its well completion report search shows drilling logs. Water right records are public, and they are legal documents that can be used as evidence in disputes, so the program's staff are a good first stop before relying on one.