Budd v. Bishop

This action was brought by the plaintiffs (hereafter collectively referred to as Budd) for the purpose of posing constitutional challenges to Chapter 153 of the Session Laws of Wyoming, 1945. Prior to 1945, § 122-117, W.R.S. 1931, as amended by Chapter 105, S.L. of Wyoming, 1935, had provided for the determination and establishment of the several priorities of water rights on streams in the state; had limited such rights to beneficial use of the water, but in any event, to not more than one cubic foot of water per second for each 70 acres; and had provided for the division of any excess water in a stream among the several appropriators in proportion to the acreage recovered by their respective permits. Chapter 153, S.L. of Wyoming, 1945, which for convenience we will refer to as the Wyoming Surplus Water Law, amended § 122-117, W.R.S. 1931, as Amended. This amendment was accomplished in § 1 of the Wyoming Surplus Water Law and new provisions were adopted in §§ 2 through 8. These provisions now are found in §§ 41-181 through 41-188, W.S. 1957.