‘Ghost Claims’ Complicate Water Rights in South Dakota
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A looming dispute over water rights near Rapid City highlights a thorny issue facing the state: How to handle claims so old or outdated that one expert calls them "ghost claims."
The case at hand involves a stretch of Rapid Creek. The Rapid City Journal reports that a rancher who leases nearby land wants to keep water rights first claimed there more than a century ago.
The state Water Management Board will likely have a hearing on the case later this year.
David Ganje, an attorney who specializes in natural resource cases, has used the phrase "ghost claims" to describe pre-1907 water rights. He says state regulators have to be careful how they treat the old claims because water rights are property rights and have some protection.
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