Around Park County, this time of the year brings residents and visitors many scents of the season, including blooming flowers, fresh rain… and smoke.
This is the time that many farmers and ranchers begin to burn their lands to make the soil riper for the upcoming planting season. Additionally, burning is a common way to clean out irrigation ditches that have had seasons of waste and weeds build up in them.
In Wyoming’s semi-arid climate, where every drop counts, understanding irrigation systems, surface water rights, and groundwater permits is key to making a smart investment in land.
Whether you're buying a ranch, farm, recreational land, or a homestead, here’s what you need to know about water rights and irrigation in the Cowboy State.
Irrigation is the key to our area’s ability to provide a healthy crop supply every year. As early (and even recent!) settlers of Wyoming quickly discovered, the arid lands of this area needed more than the 6-10 inches of rain to complete a crop. Construction of the Buffalo Bill Dam (six miles west of Cody) was necessary to bring water to the near 90,000 acres of dry, northwestern Wyoming.
The Shoshone Project and Buffalo Bill Reservoir
Early settlers dreamed of implementing the canal and ditch techniques perfected in Europe thousands of years earlier to channel water to the area. In 1910, the 325-foot-heigh dam and its contained Buffalo Bill Reservoir were completed, as well as the rest of the Shoshone Project, which included a system of canals, tunnels, and diversion dams that continue to irrigate more than 93,000 acres of beans, alfalfa, sugar beets, and other crops.
Because of this complex system, farmers and ranchers had to quickly secure their irrigation water rights, and these rights remain important to today’s home and/or land buyers, as well.
Wyoming uses the doctrine of prior appropriation, meaning the first person to use the water for a “beneficial use” has the most senior rights. These senior water rights take priority over junior ones in times of drought or shortage.
Wyoming Water Rights: Landowner Responsibilities
Keep in mind that if you are buying property in this area that will require irrigating, there are many legal responsibilities to consider with your water rights. These responsibilities include (and are NOT limited to) digging and constructing drain ditches, sharing water with nearby landowners, and caring for your runoff water.
Make sure the irrigation systems on the land are operational, and check if the water rights have been actively used and maintained. Non-use over a certain period can lead to abandonment.
For more information about water rights and documents, contact the Wyoming State Engineer, at [email protected] or (307) 777-6150.
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