California Codes

Cal. Water Code § 1241 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026

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If the person entitled to the use of water fails to use beneficially all or any part of the water claimed by him or her, for which a right of use has vested, for the purpose for which it was appropriated or adjudicated, for a period of five years, that unused water may revert to the public and shall, if reverted, be regarded as unappropriated public water. That reversion shall occur upon a finding by the board following notice to the permittee, licensee, or person holding a livestock stockpond certificate or small domestic use, small irrigation use, or livestock stockpond use registration under this part and a public hearing if requested by the permittee, licensee, certificate holder, or registration holder.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases, 1989–2014 · leading case: San Luis Unit Food Producers v. United States, 772 F. Supp. 2d 1210 (E.D. Cal. 2011).

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San Luis Unit Food Producers v. United States, 772 F. Supp. 2d 1210 (E.D. Cal. 2011). · cites it 2× “The “principal purpose” (among several others as “incidents” thereto) is furnishing water for irrigation of Unit lands.”

California Trout, Inc. v. State Water Resources Control Bd., 207 Cal. App. 3d 585 (Cal. Ct. App. 1989). “for a period of three years, such unused water reverts to the public and shall be regarded as unappropriated public water.”

State v. Hagerman Water Right Owners, Inc., 947 P.2d 400 (Idaho 1997). “1996); Cal. Water Code § 1241 (1996); Colo.Rev.Stat.”

Barnes v. Hussa, 2006 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1601 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006). “139 ]; Wat. Code, § 1241.) Here, the Hussas’ claim of forfeiture is premised on the testimony of two witnesses who claimed familiarity with irrigation practices on the Street property from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s.”

Wheatland Elec. Coop., Inc. v. Polansky, 265 P.3d 1194 (Kan. Ct. App. 2011). “A (2003); Cal. Water Code § 1241 (West 2009); Colo.”

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Auth. v. Jewell, 52 F. Supp. 3d 1020 (E.D. Cal. 2014). “(WatCode, § 1241.) Id. (emphasis added). Plaintiffs read this language as a warning to Reclamation that failure to obtain a transfer or change approval will necessarily mean that implementing the FARs amounts to a failure to put the bypassed water to beneficial use.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.