"Water. Water everywhere and not a drop to drink!"
In the agricultural heartland of Eastern Idaho, water is everything. We have plenty of water in, but just because you can see water in every direction doesn't mean you can use it. You've got to have rights to that public water for private use. Water rights are an important part of land use.
Property in East Idaho often comes with water rights. Water rights are the right to use water from sources like lakes, rivers, streams, and canals. Specifically, water is appropriated to land giving the owner specific permission to divert a specific quantity of water from a specific source. Water rights are also governed by maturity. The right to divert water from a river that was issued in 1892 has priority over the right to divert water from a river in 1928. If water becomes scarce, property owners with old water rights can demand water, causing less mature rights to be put on hold until more water becomes available. This is sometimes refereed to as the "first in time is first in line" doctrine.
You can research the water rights of a particular property by using the resources below.