Nevada Water Law

Unlike the water of the Colorado River, which is managed through a series of agreements, laws, contracts and judicial or administrative decisions known collectively as the Law of the River, the groundwater and surface waters of Nevada are managed and controlled by the state.

The Nevada Division of Water Resources (also known as the Office of the State Engineer) is the state entity that regulates groundwater and surface water resources other than Colorado River water.

The Office of the State Engineer was created in 1903 to protect existing water rights and bring about a better method of utilizing the state's water resources.

The General Water Law Act of 1913 gave the office jurisdiction over all wells tapping into artesian water or water in definable underground aquifers.

The 1939 Nevada Underground Water Act granted the State Engineer total jursidiction over all groundwater in the state. The 1939 act has been amended a number of times and is now considered one of the most comprehensive groundwater laws in the West.

First in time, first in right

Nevada water law follows the doctrine of prior appropriateion, or "first in time, first in right," meaning the first person to file on a water resource for beneficial use is typically considered first for a permanent right to the water, subject to the State Engineer's determination of available unappropriated water.