Water is not the only public good that has been subject to prior appropriation.

His opinion in Irwin v. Phillips, established the doctrine of prior appropriation in western water law jurisprudence.

Water rights in Oklahoma Territory and the western United States, water rights were generally allocated under the principle of prior appropriation.

In 1855, California also adopted the right of prior appropriation.

The common law also continues to play a leading role in American water law, in the doctrines of riparian rights and prior appropriation.

Third, riparian owners may be entitled to the "prior appropriation" of a watercourse.

Legal experts have suggested that American water law, especially the doctrine of prior appropriation, may offer a more useful precedent for sun rights.

In the western United States, water rights are generally allocated under the principle of prior appropriation.

Most states have sought to limit federal control over water distribution, preferring instead to allocate water under the discredited doctrine of prior appropriation.

The system is prior appropriation and priority based, with some priority dates going back to the 1890s.