State Ex Rel. Reynolds v. Mendenhall

MOISE, Justice.

Does a landowner who lawfully initiates the development of an underground water right and carries the same to completion with reasonable diligence acquire a water right with a priority date as of the beginning of his work, notwithstanding the fact that the lands involved were put into a declared artesian basin before work was completed and the water put to beneficial use on the ground ? This is the only question presented in this appeal.

The lands owned by appellants were in close proximity to, but outside the Roswell Artesian Basin, which was declared as such by the State…