§ 11586 Public Water Use Rights

• •If the government already uses water or land for one thing, another part of the government can use it too if it doesn’t ruin the first use.
• •They can take it even if the current users don’t want to share, because the government has the power to do that.
• •This only applies to things that were already being used by the government before July 1, 1933.

Imagine a river that the state uses to supply water to farms. Now, another government group wants to use the same river to build a dam for electricity.

If the dam doesn’t stop the farms from getting their water, the government can take the right to use the river for both things. If the farm people say no, the government can still take it because they really need it.