Everyone told me to verify that water rights transferred with the land. I did. What nobody told me was to check the priority dates on each individual right relative to the upstream neighbors on the same ditch.
I bought two adjacent parcels assuming their combined rights gave me a workable position. Technically correct. But one parcel carried an 1891 priority and the other an 1947 priority. Same ditch, same headgate, but in a dry year — which is every year now — the junior right gets shut off first. So half my irrigated ground went dry the first August I owned it, while my neighbor upstream with a single 1903 date ran water all season.
The title company confirmed the rights existed. Nobody flagged the seniority split between parcels as a practical risk. I had to learn that from the ditch rider after the damage was done.
If you're buying multiple parcels with separate water rights, map out every priority date against every senior user upstream before you make an offer. The rights on paper mean nothing if the river runs short.
Has anyone else found seniority gaps between parcels that the seller disclosure completely glossed over?