The framework in brief
The state administers use rights under prior appropriation — seniority matters — through permits and certificates recorded with the water resources agency. Household wells commonly operate under statutory exemptions for limited domestic use; drawing from the river for irrigation is a different matter entirely, resting on documented rights.
Marketing language like “irrigation from the river” or “water rights included” is a claim to verify, not a fact to assume: rights have specific terms (source, use, season, quantity, place of use) and can lapse through non-use.
Diligence on watered properties
For properties where water use matters — pasture irrigation, serious gardens, stock operations — we verify the right’s documentation and status with the state record, and confirm the claimed use matches the paper. Mismatches are common enough to check for and consequential enough to price.
Where no right exists, understand what exempt uses genuinely cover and design plans within them. Water law rewards the literal-minded.
Local rule of thumb: “Water rights included” is the beginning of a document request, not the end of a question.