37-708. Water rights appurtenant to lands;
lien; foreclosure and redemption
A. The water rights shall attach and become appurtenant to the land when the title
passes from the United States to the state. Any person furnishing water for any tract of
land so acquired shall be entitled to receive directly, when due under the water
contracts, all payments upon the land, and shall have a first lien on the water rights,
which shall be prior to other liens created or attempted to be created by the owner or
possessor of the land. The lien shall remain in force and effect until the last deferred
payment for the water rights is fully paid and settled according to the terms of the
contract under which the water rights were acquired. The contract for the water rights
upon which the lien is founded shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder.
B. Upon default of any deferred payment secured by lien, the lienholder may
foreclose the lien as mortgages are foreclosed, and the settler may within one year from
the date of foreclosure redeem by paying the deferred payments, with interest at not to
exceed ten per cent per annum, accrued interest and cost of maintenance.
C. The contractor shall have a like lien on and against the separate legal
subdivisions of land reclaimed upon the interest therein of the settler for the actual
cost and necessary expenses of reclamation, and interest thereon at the rate of six per
cent per annum, from the date of reclamation.
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