Provided by Danny Martinez

Act of July 26, 1866 (14 Stat. 251) An Act granting the Right of Way to Ditch and Canal Owners over the Public Lands, and for other Purposes.

(Sec. 1) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the mineral lands of the public domain, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and occupation by all citizens of the United States, and those who have declared their intention to become citizens, subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law, and subject also to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same may not be in conflict with the laws of the United States.

Sec. 9. An be it further enacted, That whenever, by priority of possession, rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes, have vested and accrued, and the same are recognized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws and the decisions of courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and protected in the same;...

Black's Law Dictionary 6th Edition page 68 defines Agriculture The science or art of cultivating the soil, harvesting crops and raising livestock and also as the science or art of the production of plants and animals useful to man and ion varying degrees the preparation of such products for man's use and their disposal.

Black's Law Dictionary 6th Edition page 385 Custom and usage. A usage or practice of the people, which, by common adoption and acquiescence, and by long and unvarying habit, has become compulsory, and has acquired the force of a law with respect to the place or subject-matter to which it relates. It results from a long series of actions, constantly repeated, which have, by such repetition and by uninterrupted acquiescence, acquired the force of a tacit and common consent.

Black's Law Dictionary 6th Edition page 1563 Vested. Fixed, accrued; settled; absolute; complete. Having the character or given the rights of absolute ownership not contingent; not subject to be defeated by a condition precedent. Rights are "vested" when right to enjoyment, present or prospective, has become property of some particular person or persons as present interest; mere expectancy of future benefits, or contingent interest in property founded on anticipated continuance of existing laws, does not constitute "vested right." D.M.

This is right out of the United States Attorney's Manual. Once the issue of water under the prior appropriations Doctrine and the beneficial use acquired under the " laws, Customs and Court decisions" of the times is adjudicated in State Court on a County Wide basis, you go into Federal Court for an injunction to stop any federal employee or agency from interfering with these rights Danny
http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title4/civ00036.htm

36. Effect of Declaratory Judgment Act and Administrative Procedure Act

• The Congress has enacted a partial waiver of the sovereign immunity defense as to judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 701, et seq. By Pub.L. No. 94-574, Act of October 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2721, 5 U.S.C. § 702 was amended to provide that an ("action in a court of the United States seeking relief other than money damages and stating a claim that an agency or an officer or employee thereof acted or failed to act in an official capacity or under color of legal authority shall not be dismissed nor relief therein be denied on the ground that it is against the United States or that the United States is an indispensable party.") In addition, 5 U.S.C. § 703 has been amended to allow suit to be brought against the United States or any of its agencies or officers.
• The sovereign immunity defense has been withdrawn only with respect to actions seeking specific relief other than money damages, such as an injunction, a declaratory judgment, or a writ of mandamus. Bowen v. Massachusetts, 487 U.S. 879 (1988). Specific statutory provisions for the recovery of money damages, such as the Little Tucker Act and the Federal Tort Claims Act, are unaffected. See H.Rep. 94-1656, p. 13, 1976 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 6133.
• Another barrier to judicial review of administrative action was removed by section 2 of Pub.L. No. 94-574, which amended 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a) so as to eliminate the $10,000 amount-in-controversy requirement in actions against the United States, any agency thereof, or any officer or employee thereof in his official capacity. This provision persuaded the Supreme Court to conclude that, subject to preclusion-of-review statutes, jurisdiction to review agency action is conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 1331, and that the Administrative Procedure Act is not an independent grant of jurisdiction. See Califano v. Sanders, 430 U.S. 99, 105-07 (1977).
• Similarly, the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201, is not an independent source of federal jurisdiction. The purpose of that Act is merely to provide an additional remedy, once jurisdiction is found to exist on another ground. See Benson v. State Bd. of Parole and Probation, 384 F.2d 238, 239 (9th Cir. 1967), cert. denied, 391 U.S. 954 (1968); Schilling v. Rogers, 363 U.S. 666, 677 (1960). Therefore, where jurisdiction to review a particular agency action under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 has been precluded by another statute, the Declaratory Judgment Act does not provide an independent basis for granting relief.
  [cited in USAM 4-2.140]