Kansas water rights

37,394 rights at 51,871 points of diversion in 105 counties · fetched October 8, 2026 from Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources

Open Kansas on the map How Kansas water rights work

Groundwater: 33,464
Surface water: 3,930

In Kansas's data, 3 have coordinates outside Kansas's county lines. Why

Kansas at a glance

Governing law: Kansas Water Appropriation Act of 1945
Vested rights: Water used on or before June 28, 1945
Domestic use: No approval needed; includes up to two acres of garden, orchard and lawn
Abandonment: Five successive years of nonuse without due and sufficient cause

Counties

Counties come from where each right's first point of diversion falls on Census county lines.

Oldest priority dates in Kansas

Seniority is weighed among rights on the same stream system, so this is where the oldest records are rather than a statewide ranking.

Priority date · senior to junior

Before 1880
1880–1899
1900–1919
1920–1949
1950–1972
1973–1999
2000 and later
No priority date