Transfer

Buying a water right is the easy part; making it useful where and how you need it usually requires a change application. States review these for injury to other water users, and the review can reduce the transferable amount to the historical consumptive use rather than the full decreed amount.

That reduction is the most common surprise in water acquisitions. A right decreed for a large flow may transfer at a fraction of it, and the difference is discovered during a proceeding, not at closing.