Utah prides itself as being the first place in the United States where irrigation techniques were employed on an extensive scale by Anglo-American settlers. Utah differed from its neighboring states by initially parceling out the right to use water by legislative grant. The prior appropriation doctrine was not adopted in its entirety until the 1897 Water Act.

Since 1903, a party may only gain the right to use unappropriated water by acquiring a permit from the State Engineer. (Utah Code Ann. § 73-3-1 et seq.). The State Engineer has a duty to approve an Application to Appropriate Water if the applicant proves: (1) there is unappropriated water at the proposed source; (2) the proposed use will not interfere with existing rights or a more beneficial use; and (3) the water use project can feasibly be completed by the applicant. (§ 72-3-8). The State Engineer may only withhold approval of an application if he has reason to believe that the appropriation will interfere with more beneficial uses of water (irrigation, domestic or culinary, stock watering, power or mining development or manufacturing) or will unreasonably affect public recreation or the environment. The Utah Supreme Court has determined that this provision gives the State Engineer the discretion to deny an application in favor of a potential future use of the water that would be “more beneficial.” Tanner v. Bacon, 136 P.2d 957 (1943). Decisions of the State Engineer may be appealed in the district court.

Even though water is “property of the public,” a water right is a property right. The right to use water may be sold, conveyed or transferred separate from the land on which it is used so long as the transfer does not injure other water users (§ 73-3-3).

Groundwater in Utah may be appropriated under the same process as surface waters. An applicant must submit an “Application to Appropriate Water” and be able to show that groundwater is available and that other appropriators will not be injured. Groundwater appropriations are partially governed by special regional policies. For example, regional policies have closed roughly 1/3 of the state (mostly along the populated Wasatch Front) to new groundwater appropriations. There are no exemptions to the permitting requirement for shallow or low quantity wells.

For water rights that were acquired before a permitting system was introduced (1903 for surface waters and 1935 for groundwater), an appropriator may seek a quantification of the right by the State Engineer. The appropriator must have a licensed engineer submit a “Diligence Claim” proving the date of appropriation and the extent of the right.

Two agencies housed in the Utah Department of Natural Resources are responsible for managing Utah's water resources. The Utah Division of Water Rights is headed by the State Engineer and is responsible for issuing appropriation permits and otherwise regulating the use of water in the state. The Utah Division of Water Resources is responsible for water planning and managing the construction of water projects in the state.

One unique aspect of Utah water law is that it grants preferences to certain types of water uses in times of shortage. (§ 73-3-21). The preference statute provides that in times of scarcity, a preferred use (domestic and agricultural) shall have priority over earlier appropriators whose use of the water is not preferred.