Which statement best describes prior appropriation and riparian water rights?

• A. Prior appropriation allocates water rights based on land ownership proximity to river.
• B. Prior appropriation allocates water rights to the first users in time; riparian rights tie water access to land adjacent to a watercourse; both influence allocation and transfers.
• C. Both systems rely solely on the amount of annual rainfall.
• D. Riparian rights are not used for surface water.

Answer: (B)

Water rights are determined by two different doctrines, and this question tests how they work together. Prior appropriation awards rights based on who first put water to beneficial use, a first-in-time, first-in-right system. That means the earliest users get senior rights and can keep using their quantity during shortages, with newer users limited by those senior rights. Riparian rights, on the other hand, grant access to water based on land that borders the watercourse—the nearby landowner has the right to reasonably use water from that source, tied to ownership of the adjoining property and subject to reasonable use.

Together, these concepts describe how water is allocated and how rights are transferred. Prior appropriation can support transfers and markets because the right itself carries priority, independent of land location. Riparian rights are more closely linked to the owning land along the stream and are typically less transferable, since the right is connected to the river-adjacent property.

The statement captures that one system is time-based (first users) and the other is land-adjacent (riparian), and that both influence how rights are allocated and can be transferred. It’s not about rainfall alone, and riparian rights do apply to surface water.