Federal · Title 43 — Public Lands

43 U.S.C. § 485h: Application of State laws

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Nothing in sections 485h–1 to 485h–5 of this title shall be construed as affecting or intended to affect or to in any way interfere with the laws of any State relating to the control, appropriation, use, or distribution of water used in irrigation, or any vested right acquired thereunder, and the Secretary in carrying out the provisions of such sections, shall proceed in conformity with such laws, and nothing herein shall in any way affect any right of any State or of the Federal Government or of any landowner, appropriator, or user of water in, to, or from any interstate stream or the waters thereof: Provided , That the right to the use of water acquired under the provisions of such sections shall be appurtenant to the land irrigated and beneficial use shall be the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right.

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