What a Utah right contains
All water in Utah is public property, and a water right is permission to divert and use some of it. A typical right defines the type and extent of use, a priority date, and a quantity as a flow rate in cubic feet per second (cfs) or a volume in acre-feet. It also names a point of diversion and source, and a place of use.
The Division of Water Rights, still often called the State Engineer's Office, administers these rights. The State Engineer's office dates to 1897 and took its current name in 1967.
How rights come into being
Uses that began before 1903 for surface water, or before 1935 for groundwater, can be documented with a "diligence claim". These claims go through public notice and court review, and some have been barred by decree.
Every other right starts as an Application to Appropriate. After notice, possible protests and a State Engineer decision, the applicant builds the project. A licensed engineer or land surveyor then files proof of the development, and the State Engineer issues a Certificate of Appropriation.
Much of Utah is closed to new appropriations. There, new uses come from buying an existing right and filing a change application to move or repurpose it.
A house well needs a right
Utah has no general exempt-well allowance. You must own a water right to divert water, and a driller can't start a well without permission from the State Engineer. Whether you file a new application or buy a right depends on whether your area is open, restricted or closed.
The Division publishes typical duties to size a purchase. It uses 0.45 acre-foot for indoor household use, 0.028 acre-foot per cow or horse, and 4.0 acre-feet per irrigated acre in its example. In that example, a home in the northern Cedar City Valley with two head of livestock and an eighth of an acre of garden needs about 1.0 acre-foot.
Buying and selling
Water rights are real property in Utah and are sold much like land. The seller signs a deed, which is recorded in the county where the water is diverted, and the buyer then files a Report of Water Right Conveyance with the Division. Processing usually takes a week or two.
The county recorder, not the Division, is the official record of ownership. The Division's owner field reflects what it has been told. If a seller isn't shown as owner there, expect extra title work before the right can appear in your name.
Several rights can share one use, which the Division tracks as "use groups" with supplemental rights. Splitting or changing one of them means sorting out how much each right contributes.
The seven-year rule
Utah Code 73-1-4 makes a right, or the unused part of it, subject to forfeiture after seven years of nonuse. Some nonuse is excused, such as when drought leaves no water to take, and owners can file a nonuse application to protect a right.
Forfeiture only happens when a state district court declares it, most often during a general adjudication of an area. Keep records showing the water was used. The Division's Water Right Search and map search show each right's status, and its email service can notify you when new documents are added to a file.