succession unless he appears and claims such succession NOTE.-Const., Art. I, Sec. 17; Stats. 1856, p. 137, not Attorney General to proceeds cause to be sold, and deposited. 1405. When succession is not claimed as provided Succession in the preceding section, the District Court, on infor- claimed, mation, must direct the Attorney General to reduce the property to his or the possession of the State, or to cause the same to be sold, and the same or the proceeds thereof to be deposited in the State Treasury for the benefit of such non-resident foreigner, or his legal representative, to be paid to him whenever, within five years after such deposit, proof to the satisfaction of the State Controller and Treasurer is produced that he is entitled to succeed thereto. NOTE.-Stats. 1856, p. 137, Sec. 1. By the civil, as well as by the common law, the King cannot take upon himself the possession of an estate said to have escheated until the fact is judicially ascertained by an inquest of office.-The People vs. Folsom, 5 Cal., p. 373. An alien cannot be deprived of his land or incidents thereto by proof of alienage in a collateral proceeding.-Ramirez vs. Kent et al., 2 Cal., p. 558. Alien's estate does not vest in the sovereign until "office found," etc.-Morris vs. Hoyt, 18 Cal., p. 217. 1406. When so claimed, the evidence and the joint order of the Controller and Treasurer must be filed by the Treasurer as his voucher, and the property delivered or the proceeds paid to the claimant on filing his receipt therefor. If no one succeeds to the estate or the proceeds, as herein provided, the property of the decedent devolves and escheats to the people of the State, and is placed by the State Treasurer to the credit of the School Fund. NOTE.-Stats. 1856, p. 137, Sec. 1. See note to preceding section. When the property and estate the State. escheat to Property escheated subject to charges as other property. Successor liable for obligations. 1407. Real property passing to the State under the last section, whether held by the State or its officers, is subject to the same charges and trusts to which it would have been subject if it had passed by succes sion, and is also subject to all the provisions of Title VIII, Part III, of the CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE. NOTE.-Stats. 1870, p. 72, Sec. 1; 1862, p. 103, Sec. 2, et seq.; 1855, p. 222, Sec. 1, et seq. See, also, note to Sec. 1405, ante. 1408. Those who succeed to the property of a decedecedent's dent are liable for his obligations in the cases and to the extent prescribed by the CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE. NOTE.-See Title XI, Part III, Co. Civ. Pro. Cal. Rights to water may TITLE VIII. WATER RIGHTS. SECTION 1410. Rights to water may be acquired by appropriation. 1411. Appropriation must be for a useful purpose. 1412. Point of diversion may be changed. 1413. Water may be turned into natural channels. 1414. First in time, first in right. 1415. Notice of appropriation. 1416. Diligence in appropriating. 1417. Completion defined. 1418. Doctrine of relation applied. 1419. Forfeiture. 1420. Rights of present claimant. 1421. Recorder to keep book in which to record notices. 1422. This Title not to affect rights of riparian proprietors. 1410. The right to the use of running water bo acquired flowing in a river or stream or down a cañon or ravine by appro priation. may be acquired by appropriation. NOTE.-Eddy vs. Simpson, 3 Cal., p. 249; Irwin vs. Phillips, 5 Cal., p. 140; Kidd vs. Laird, 15 Cal., p. 161; Hoffman vs. Stone, 7 Cal., p. 49; McDonald vs. Bear River Co., 13 Cal., p. 220; Ortman vs. Dixon, 13 Cal., p. 34; Rupley vs. Welch, 23 Cal., p. 452; McDonald vs. Askew, 29 Cal., p. 200; Nevada Water Co. vs. tion must useful 1411. The appropriation must be for some useful Appropriaor beneficial purpose, and when the appropriator or be for a his successor in interest ceases to use it for such a purpose. purpose, the right ceases. NOTE.-Weaver vs. Eureka Lake Co., 15 Cal., p. 1412. The person entitled to the use may change the place of diversion, if others are not injured by such change, and may extend the ditch, flume, pipe, or aqueduct by which the diversion is made to places beyond that where the first use was made. NOTE.-Kidd vs. Laird, 15 Cal., p. 161; Butte Table 1413. The water appropriated may be turned into the channel of another stream and mingled with its water, and then reclaimed; but in reclaiming it the water already appropriated by another must not be diminished. NOTE.-Richardson vs. Kier, 34 Cal., p. 63; Butte Canal and Ditch Company vs. Vaughan, 11 Cal., p. 143; Hoffman vs. Stone, 7 Cal., p. 46. Point of diversion may be changed. Water may be turned into natural channels. 1414. As between appropriators, the one first in First in time is the first in right. NOTE.-Butte Canal and Ditch Co. vs. Vaughan, 11 Cal., p. 143; Kidd vs. Laird, 15 Cal., p. 161; Weaver vs. Conger, 10 Cal., p. 233; B. R. and A. W. and M. Co. vs. N. Y. Co., 8 Cal., p. 327; Hill vs. King, 8 Cal., p. 336; Davis vs. Yale, 32 Cal., p. 26; Eddy vs. Simp time, first in right. Notice of appropriation. Diligence in appropriating. Completion defined. son, 3 Cal., p. 249; Irwin vs. Phillips, 5 Cal., p. 140; Maeris vs. Bicknell, 7 Cal., p. 261; McDonald vs. Askew, 29 Cal., p. 200; Ortman vs. Dixon, 13 Cal., p. 33; Phoenix Water Co. vs. Fletcher, 23 Cal., p. 481; see Sec. 3525, post. 1415. A person desiring to appropriate water must post a notice, in writing, in a conspicuous place at the point of intended diversion, stating therein: 1. That he claims the water there flowing to the extent of (giving the number) inches, measured under a four-inch pressure; 2. The purposes for which he claims it, and the place of intended use; 3. The means by which he intends to divert it, and the size of the flume, ditch, pipe, or aqueduct in which he intends to divert it; A copy of the notice must, within ten days after it is posted, be recorded in the office of the Recorder of the county in which it is posted. NOTE.-Thompson vs. Lee, 8 Cal., p. 275; Weaver vs. Eureka Lake Co., 15 Cal., p. 271; Kimball vs. Gearhart, 12 Cal., p. 27; Parke vs. Kilham, 8 Cal., p. 77. 1416. Within sixty days after the notice is posted, the claimant must commence the excavation or construction of the works in which he intends to divert the water, and must prosecute the work diligently and uninterruptedly to completion, unless temporarily interrupted by snow or rain. 1417. NOTE.-Kimball vs. Gearhart, 12 Cal., p. 27; Weaver vs. Eureka Lake Co., 15 Cal., p. 271; Thompson vs. Lee, 8 Cal., p. 275. 1417. By "completion" is meant conducting the waters to the place of intended use. Doctrine of 1418. By a compliance with the above rules the relation applied. claimant's right to the use of the water relates back to the time the notice was posted. NOTE.-Kimball vs. Gearhart, 12 Cal., p. 27; Weaver vs. Eureka Lake Co., 15 Cal., p. 271. 1419. A failure to comply with such rules de- Forfeiture. prives the claimants of the right to the use of the water as against a subsequent claimant who complies therewith. 1420. NOTE. As to construction of "rules" under which a forfeiture of possessory interests is claimed, see Colman vs. Clements, 23 Cal., p. 245; Wiseman vs. McNulty, 25 Cal., p. 230; St. John vs. Kidd, 26 Cal., p. 263; Packer vs. Heaton, 9 Cal., p. 568; McGarrity vs. Byington, 12 Cal., p. 426. present Persons who have heretofore claimed the Rights of right to water, and who have not constructed works claimant. in which to divert it, and who have not diverted nor applied it to some useful purpose, must, after this Title takes effect, and within twenty days thereafter, proceed as in this Title provided, or their right ceases. 1421. The Recorder of each county must keep a book, in which he must record the notices provided for in this Title. Recorder book in to keep which to record notices. 1422. The rights of riparian proprietors are not This Title affected by the provisions of this Title. NOTE.-Under the provisions of "An Act to put into effect the provisions of the Civil Code relative to water rights," approved March 27th, 1872 (Stats. 1871-2, p. 622), this Title was put into force and effect from and after the 1st day of May, 1872. In Stats. 1871-2, pp. 945-948, will also be found: An Act to promote irrigation. [Approved April 1, 1872.] [Enacting clause.] SECTION 1. Whenever the owners of any body of lands susceptible of one mode of irrigation or drainage desire to irrigate or drain the same, they may present to the Board of Supervisors of the county in which the lands or the greater portion thereof are situated, at a regular meeting of the Board, a petition setting forth that they desire to adopt measures to irrigate the same, the description of the lands by legal subdivisions, the number of acres in the whole district, and the number of acres in each tract, with the names of the owners not to affect rights of riparian proprietors |