Utah water rights

114,801 rights at 201,510 points of diversion in 29 counties · fetched October 8, 2026 from Utah Division of Water Rights

Open Utah on the mapHow Utah water rights work
Groundwater
76,020
Surface water
31,891
Other source
4,923
Spring
1,967

In Utah's data, 19,379 records carry no priority date, 1 have coordinates outside Utah's county lines. Why

Utah at a glance

Doctrine
Prior appropriation
Official ownership record
County recorder where the water is diverted
Pre-statute rights
Diligence claims: surface use before 1903, groundwater before 1935
Forfeiture
Seven years of nonuse, declared by a district court
Domestic wells
No exemption: a water right is required

Counties

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

Oldest priority dates in Utah

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