Forfeiture
Also called: abandonment, use it or lose it, non-use
Loss of all or part of a water right because the water was not put to beneficial use for a period set by state statute.
A western water right is a right to use water, not to own it, so it survives only as long as it is used. Most states provide that a right, or the unused portion of it, can be forfeited after a statutory period of non-use, and many also recognize abandonment where the owner intended to give the right up. The period, the exceptions and whether forfeiture is automatic or requires a proceeding all vary by state.
Forfeiture is why a buyer asks for the use history and not just the decree. A right that has sat idle may be worth far less than its paper amount, and the shortfall usually surfaces in a change application, when the state looks back at how much water was actually used.
See also
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