ROSE, Justice.
These consolidated appeals primarily concern the State Board of Control’s decision not to grant the Basin Electric Power Cooperative the right to transfer certain historic closed-basin return flows, as requested in Basin’s petition to change the use and point of diversion under certain acquired water appropriations. Basin’s petition, filed pursuant to § 41-3-104, W.S.1977 [§ 41-4.1, W.S.1957, 1975 Cum.Supp.],1 was contested by the Upper Laramie Users, Inc., the Wheatland Irrigation District (an organization then denominated as the Laramie River Water Users), the Middle Laramie Water Users Association, and certain other interested parties. After hearings in May and July, 1975, the Board granted Basin’s petition and entered findings of fact and conclusions of law on May 6, 1976. Basin took exception to certain of these findings and conclusions, and timely filed a petition for review. The Wheatland Irrigation District filed its own petition for review on July 23, 1976, which was later stricken by the district court for a failure to comply with the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure. The Middle Laramie Water Users Association did not file a petition for review. On January 25, 1977, the district court entered its order affirming the decision of the Board of Control. Basin has appealed only from that portion of the order which concerns the above-mentioned closed-basin return flows. The various water users associations have appealed from the district court’s restriction of the issues reviewed below, and various determinations of the Board which they claim were not in conformity with the law or supported by substantial evidence. • .
We will affirm the district court’s affirmation of the Board’s decision with respect to the handling of closed-basin return flows. There being no other issues properly before us, we will affirm all other aspects of the district court’s order upholding the Board’s decision.
Basin’s petition to the Board of Control requested that three water appropriations, which it has acquired, be changed from agricultural uses to a preferred use for industrial purposes so that it would have [560]*560water to service its steam power generation requirements at its Laramie River Station near Wheatland, Wyoming. The appropriations in question are from the Laramie River, through the Boughton Ditch, and have historically been used for the irrigation of meadow lands located on the R. 0. Corporation and Wallis Ranches, east of U. S. Highway No. 30 and north of State Highway No. 34, in Albany County. Basin’s plan is to sever these water rights from the above lands and transport the water down the Laramie River for storage at the proposed Grayrocks Reservoir, there to be utilized at its power facility.
A unique factual situation is present in that a topographic divide separates the 3,730 acres historically irrigated under the Boughton Ditch. The total record rights of the appropriations under consideration are for 98.73 cubic feet per second of water, covering 7,388 acres. Basin admitted in its report to the Board that only
“approximately 35% of the acreage entitled to irrigation water under the Bough-ton Ditch appropriations has been considered as actually irrigated.”
Of the total acreage actually irrigated, 794 acres lie above and 2,937 acres lie below the topographic divide.
Above the divide, irrigation return flows are able to find their way back to the Laramie River for use by other appropriators. Below the divide, however, the irrigation return flows enter the Long Lake Basin, a geological enclosure which precludes the return of any waters to the Laramie River for use by other appropriators. The record discloses that, as defined by the Board, there was a historic consumptive use2 above and below the divide equal to 3,117 acre-feet of water. This figure was reached by determining the total amount of intensively and less intensively irrigated acreage, and then applying the Burman consumptive-use figure of 0.969 acre-feet per acre,3 with downward adjustments for the less intensively irrigated acreage. For the purpose of considering a transfer of irrigation water rights, “consumptive use” was defined by the Board, in Conclusion of Law No. 6, as
“the amount of irrigation water, exclusive of effective precipitation, stored soil moisture, or ground water that is consumed by the crop.”
The amount of water consumptively used was found to be Basin’s maximum seasonal entitlement. Basin claims that this amount (3,117 acre-feet) should be increased by the return flows below the topographic divide which enter the Long Lake closed basin— which it calculates would be an additional 2,215 acre-feet of water.4 Basin makes this claim on the two-pronged theory that this amount was a necessary part of the irrigation of lands in the Long Lake closed basin and was historically lost to the Laramie River system.
On the other hand, the Board concluded— as a matter of fact — that these closed-basin return flows had not been “beneficially, consumptively used”5 below the topograph[561]*561ic divide and could not be transferred, regardless of whether or not they return to the Laramie River system.
CONSTRUCTION OF § 41-3-104
Section 41-3-104, (fn. 1, supra) provides that when a change in use, or change in place of use of water is applied for, certain factors must be considered by the Board. These considerations are:
(a) The amount of water historically diverted under the existing use.
(b) The historic rate of diversion under the existing use.
(c) The historic amount consumptively used under the existing use.
(d) The historic amount of return flow.
The statute thus provides that the quantity of water transferred shall not affect the quantities of water contemplated by these factors—
“nor in any manner injure other existing lawful appropriators.”
Basin’s interpretation of the statute would lead to the conclusion that each of the above four limitations modify the general prohibition of injury to other appropriators. In other words — argues Basin — factors “a,” “b,” “c,” and “d” above are irrelevant to a change-of-use application unless it can be shown that other appropriators are injured by the effect of one or more of them. According to this reasoning, it follows that since the closed-basin return flows do not return to the Laramie River, there is, therefore, no injury to other appropriators if more than the “historic amount” of water “consumptively used under the existing use” below the divide is transferred. (The quotes are from § 41-3-104.) Since this is so — says Basin — the statute is not offended by the seller-appropriator’s transfer of the entire appropriation, regardless of what the facts show the historical-use factor to be.
On the other hand, other interested water users, together with the Board, contend that the statute imposes separate and independent restrictions on the amount of water which can be transferred — regardless of the existence of injury to other appropriators.
The Wyoming change-in-use statute, admittedly ambiguous, is unique to western water law, although its principles are not new or unfamiliar. The divergent contentions of the parties are themselves evidence of the ambiguity which characterizes § 41-3-104, supra. Since the statute is ambiguous, it falls to us to construe it, and in so doing we must view the language used by the framers in light of the purposes they intended to accomplish. Wyoming State Treasurer ex rel. Worker's Compensation Division v. Svoboda, Wyo., 573 P.2d 417, 420; Frank v. City of Cody, Wyo., 572 P.2d 1106, 1115; Seyfang v. Board of Trustees of Washakie County School Dist. No. 1, Wyo., 563 P.2d 1376, 1380; and Hoffmeister v. McIntosh, Wyo., 361 P.2d 678, 679, reh. den. 364 P.2d 823.
While the legislative declaration of intent and purpose is not binding upon us, it is, nevertheless, worthy of consideration as an aid to construction. Wyoming State Treasurer ex rel. Workmen’s Compensation Dept. v. Niezwaag, Wyo., 452 P.2d 214; and McFarland v. City of Cheyenne, 48 Wyo. 86, 42 P.2d 413. The title to § 41 3 104, supra, as originally enacted, provided:
“AN ACT to create Section 41 4 1 of the statutes relating to procedure to change use or place of use of water right; and providing only historic amount of water used or diverted under the right may be transferred." [Emphasis supplied] Session Laws of Wyoming, 1973, ch. 170.
The announced purpose, then of § 41 -3-104 was to provide a procedure for those wishing to change a water right, and to place limitations on the amount of water which could be transferred. Basin argues with this, urging that the only purpose of the statute was to embrace what Basin interprets to be the basic premise laid down by this court in Johnston v. Little Horse Creek Irrigating Co., 13 Wyo. 208, 79 P. 22, 24, where it is stated:
[562]*562“ . . . The only limitation upon the right of sale of a water right separate from the land to which it was first applied, and to which it has become appurtenant, laid down by any of the authorities, is that it shall not injuriously affect the rights of other appropriators. . . ” 6 [Emphasis supplied]
' We parenthetically observe that Johnston was decided in 1904 and did not contemplate a change-in-use problem. Likewise, it was not concerned with the issue of beneficial and consumptive use or a statute such as § 41-3-104. The issue in Johnston was whether or not an irrigation water right could be sold and transferred for the same use and was therefore severable from the land to which it was first applied and to which it had become appurtenant. In this context, we held that the only limitation upon the sale of a water right was injury to other appropriators. In other words, we said, there being no other factors to consider, a water right was such an interest in property as would permit of transfer and sale, assuming no injury to other appropriators. However, in discussing the various ramifications of this proposition, the author of the opinion was careful to note that there were no facts present which showed a sale of surplus water — there was no evidence of waste, and there was no indication that the parties to the deed were using more water than was actually required. We then went on to say that if there had been a showing of waste, the lower court’s decision enjoining against interfering with the transfer might have required modification.
We interpret this decision to hold— then — that in a situation where the grantor of an irrigation water right sells to a grantee who intends to make the same use of the right — in circumstances where evidence of surplus and waste is not present and therefore there is no issue of beneficial and/or consumptive use, and in circumstances where there are no statutory inhibitions against the sale — the only limitation upon such a transfer of a water right from the land to which it was first applied is that it
“shall not injuriously affect the rights of other appropriators.” 7
However, Basin, utilizing its interpretation of the Johnston holding and in seeking to apply it to the facts of this case, would conclude that, since there was no injurious effect upon the rights of other appropriators, then there is no statutorily imposed limitation upon the right to transfer a water right. We cannot agree. The situation here is so different from that of Johnston that the narrow rule of that case, as urged by Basin, is of little value to these deliberations. Here we have a statutory direction not extant when Johnston was decided; and here the issue is beneficial, consumptive use, where — in Johnston — no such issue was present.
We readily acknowledge that the statute incorporates certain change-of-use concepts previously recognized by this court. See, Comment: “Changing Manner and Place of Use of Water Rights in Wyo[563]*563ming,” Wyo. Land and Water Law.Rev., Volume X, No. 2, 455, 466 (1975). We cannot, however, presume that the only purpose of a statute is to declare what has, prior to its enactment, been declared to be the law. There would be no reason for its enactment if that were so. United States v. Douglas-Willan Sartoris Co., 3 Wyo. 287, 22 P. 92. In ascertaining legislative intent, we must look to the mischief the statute was intended to cure, the historical setting surrounding its enactment, the public policy of the state, the conclusions of the law and all other prior and contemporaneous facts and circumstances. Carter v. Thompson Realty Co., 58 Wyo. 279, 131 P.2d 297.
While this court has for many years recognized that one of the fundamental principles applicable to any transfer of water rights for change in use is the avoidance of injury (Johnston v. Little Horse Creek Irrigation Co., supra), equally fundamental is the principle which holds that an appropriator obtains a transferable water right only to the extent that he has put his appropriation to a beneficial use. Our statutes provide:
“ . . . Beneficial use shall be the basis, the measure and the limit of the right to use water at all times, not exceeding the statutory limit . . [Emphasis supplied] Section 41-3-101, W.S.1977 [Section 41-2, W.S.1957],
We have previously said that the water right of an appropriator is limited to beneficial use, even though a larger amount has been adjudicated. Quinn v. John Whitaker Ranch Co., 54 Wyo. 367, 92 P.2d 568, 570-571, and Budd v. Bishop, Wyo., 543 P.2d 368, 373. The decreed amount of water may be prima facie evidence of an appropriator’s entitlement (Quinn, supra), but such evidence may be rebutted by showing actual historic beneficial use. Beneficial use is not a concept which is considered only at the time an appropriation is obtained. The concept represents a continuing obligation which must be satisfied in order for the appropriation to remain viable. The state’s abandonment statutes, §§ 41-3-401 and 41-3-402, W.S.1977 [§§ 41-47.1 and 41-47.2, W.S.1957, 1975 Cum.Supp.], are recognition of this requirement. See also, Budd v. Bishop, supra. This principle announced in Johnston, supra, at 79 P. 24, continues to be the law to this day. We said in Johnston :
“As an appropriator of water obtains by his appropriation that only of which he makes a beneficial use, it necessarily follows that he cannot sell surplus water which he does not need, while retaining his original appropriation; . ” [Emphasis supplied]
As we have heretofore observed, the Johnston decision indicates that if the seller-appropriator or the buyer were shown to have committed waste or that they intend the commission of waste — the court would interfere.
The law of Colorado fully supports the suggested inter-relationship between the principles of avoidance of .injury and beneficial use in the context of changes of use or changes of place of use. In Farmers Highline Canal & Reservoir Co. v. City of Golden, 129 Colo. 575, 272 P.2d 629, reh. den. 272 P.2d 636, the Colorado Supreme Court observed:
“Petitioner contends, however, that it is entirely within the right of an appropriator of water to enlarge upon his use, and now that the City of Golden is the owner, it may enlarge upon the use to the extent of the entire decree. Counsel for petitioner here confuse two altogether different principles. This doctrine even on behalf of an original appropriator, may be applied only to the extent of use contemplated at the time of appropriation. It has no application whatever to a situation where a decree is sought for change of point of diversion or use. There the right is strictly limited to the extent of former actual usage. ‘The right to change the point of diversion is, of course, nonetheless a qualified right because petitioner acquired it by purchase.’ Fort Lyon Canal Co. v. Rocky Ford Co., 79 Colo. 511, 515, 246 P. 781, 782.
[564]*564“Although the expression ‘Duty of Water’, in the opinions of some present-day scholarly hydrologists and technical engineers, may be outmoded, provincial, unscientific, and otherwise objectionable, nevertheless it is á term well understood and accepted by every rancher and farmer who has had practical experience in the artificial irrigation of land for the production of crops. It is that measure of water, which, by careful management and use, without wastage, is reasonably required to be applied to any given tract of land for such period of time as may be adequate to produce therefrom a maximum amount of such crops as ordinarily are grown thereon. It is not a hard and fast unit of measurement, but is variable according to conditions. ... In matters concerning change of point of diversion, it is the gauge by which volume of prior use is determined. Where the entire amount fixed by the decree was reasonably required in the proper irrigation of the lands to which first applied, then the whole priority properly may be changed for similar usage; but where such irrigation did not require the entire volume of the decree, then only that portion may be changed which previously had been necessary for proper irrigation. It is not a question of whether the amount of water decreed was adequate, but whether it was excessive. The extent of needed use in original location is the criterion in considering change of point of diversion. This, of course, is premised upon the assumption that whatever of the decreed water was not properly used remained in the stream.” [Emphasis supplied] 272 P.2d at 634-635.8
In other words, the amount of water originally decreed or disclosed in a water permit is not necessarily the amount which may be transferred to a new place of use. In Colorado, at least, the amount which may be transferred is limited to the “Duty of Water,” which is defined as the amount reasonably required for proper irrigation under the original appropriation. Contra, W. S. Ranch Company v. Kaiser Steel Corporation, 79 N.M. 65, 439 P.2d 714, where the change-in-use petitioner was allowed to transfer the entire amount of the decreed water right regardless of subsequent actual beneficial use.
The key to understanding the application of beneficial-use concepts to a change-of-use proceeding is a recognition that the issues of nonuse and misuse are inextricably interwoven with the issues of change of use and change in the place of use. This is true even without the formal initiation of abandonment proceedings under the statutes. If an appropriator, either by misuse or failure to use, has effectively abandoned either all or part of his water right through noncomplianee with the beneficial-use requirements imposed by law, he could not effect a change of use or place of use for that amount of his appropriation which had been abandoned. See Rocky Mountain Power Company v. White River Electric Association, 151 Colo. 45, 376 P.2d 158, 161, and Flasche v. Westcolo Co., 112 Colo. 387, 149 P.2d 817. In the course of criticizing previous decisions of the Colorado Supreme Court, which held that the issue of abandonment was not properly a part of a change-of-use proceeding — a position subsequently changed by enactment of Rule 99, C.R.C.P. — the Court of Appeals of Colorado stated in Farmers’ High Line Canal & Reservoir Co. v. Wolff, 23 Colo.App. 570, 131 P. 291, 294-295:
“ . . . In our opinion it was an unfortunate day for the public welfare and for the owners of legitimate water rights,, based upon actual appropriation, when the Supreme Court felt compelled to rule that abandonment could not be made an issue in this special statutory proceeding for a change in the point of diversion. There is no time so opportune, and no other proceeding so appropriate, for trying that issue as when, under a petition of this nature, all the ditches, [565]*565owners, and claimants of water rights are in court; and the decrees, the use of water, the conditions on the stream, the quantity of return waters, the quantity of an entire decreed appropriation to a ditch, whether owned in severalty or as tenants in common by individuals, or by a corporation, to which the person seeking the change is entitled, are before the court for consideration and determination. That rule has become the excuse for many actions ostensibly to change the point of diversion of waters appropriated, while the real purpose and effect is to revive or give life to and make effective a mere paper appropriation of water that has never been applied to a beneficial use by the claimants, and to encourage speculation in such excess decrees masquerading under the name of ‘water rights,’ and resulting in serious and irreparable loss to bona fide appropriators. It puts a premium on ‘watered stock’ in the irrigation system that deals with and controls the most important element in the growth of agricultural and horticultural products in this arid region, viz., water. However justifiable, or even necessary, the ruling may have been, its effect has been vicious. When once the change has been granted, there is no proceeding yet discovered that affords appropriate relief within the reach of a claimant with limited means. It has not been explained, and we do not know how abandonment can be predicated of a water right that, although having lain dormant for many years, has been given life and strength and value by decree granting its use at a new point of diversion. . . . ”
Prior to the enactment of § 41-3-104, supra, the laws of Wyoming did not clearly recognize the role played by the concept of beneficial use in the context of a change-of-use proceeding. Emphasis was placed, in eases where such changes were allowed 9, on the avoidance of injury to other appropriators. Commentators and those involved in water administration, however, came to realize the great disparity between the actual practices of water users and adjudicated water rights. One writer observed:
“Most of the western states experience significant deviations between the actual practices of water users in the field and the information recorded in the office of the water administration officials. The extent of the problem, and the seriousness of the deviations in the other states is not known, but the magnitude of the problem in Wyoming is enormous and is apparently statewide. In 1955, the records of the State Engineer showed that the adjudicated, direct flow water rights from the Little Laramie River totaled 417,000 acres, but the acreage actually irrigated by direct flow from the Little Laramie River was only 200,000 acres, which is only 48% of the adjudicated acreage. In the North Platte River Basin in central and eastern Wyoming, direct flow surface water rights are adjudicated to 890,554 acres, but only 569,131 acres, 64% of the adjudicated acreage, were actually irrigated as of 1967. In one reach of a river in the water-rich highlands of west central Wyoming, direct flow surface water rights are adjudicated to 10,839 acres, but only 6,600 acres are actually irrigated, 61% of the acreage shown to be irrigated by the State Engineer’s records.” [Footnotes omitted] Mclntire, “The Disparity Between State Water Rights Records and Actual Water Use Patterns,” Vol. V, No. 1, Wyo.Land and Water L.Rev. 23, 26-27 (1970).
One of the reasons for this disparity was explained as follows:
“The procedure established for supervision of the water laws, together with the number of men and the amount of equipment allotted for the job, makes detection of water law violations difficult. Wyoming water rights are limited to a maximum rate of flow of water measured at the point where the water is diverted from the source, the headgate. [566]*566A water commissioner’s observations at the headgate and regulations of the head-gate in accordance with the priority give no information or control over the place of water use, the number of acres upon which the water is applied or the amount of water actually applied. Furthermore, under the ‘call system’ of administration, no control is exercised upon most streams unless a call for control is made, so that in the absence of a call, there are generally no records available even to indicate the rate of diversion.” [Footnotes omitted] Mclntire, supra, 33-34.
Keeping these various principles and problems in mind, we turn to the language of § 41-3-104, supra, in our effort to construe the statute. We must give effect, if possible, to every word, clause and sentence of the statute. State ex rel. Benham v. Cheever, 71 Wyo. 303, 257 P.2d 337, 340-341; and Wheatland Irrigation District v. Short, 80 Wyo. 136, 339 P.2d 403, 409. Each of the clauses containing the restrictions on the quantity of water which may be imposed in the granting of a petition to change the use or place of use of a water right, is separated by the word “nor.” The conjunction “nor” performs the same function in negative propositions as does the word “or” in positive propositions, i. e., marking distribution, an alternative, or apposition. Coxson v. Doland, N.Y., 2 Daly’s 66, 67. The word “or” is usually used in the disjunctive sense, and when two clauses are expressed in the disjunctive, this generally indicates alternatives, requiring separate treatment. Matter of Adoption of Voss, Wyo., 550 P.2d 481, 485. Cf., Manning & Martin v. State Board of Equalization, 58 Wyo. 425, 133 P.2d 373, 374. In other words, the subject of each clause should be considered separately, without requiring that the subjects both be satisfied. Utilizing these concepts in construing § 4-3-108, W.S.1977 [§ 41-9.1, W.S.1957, 1975 Cum. Supp.], we are forced to the conclusion that the statute forecloses anyone desiring to effect a change of use from transferring more water than has been historically' con-sumptively used, regardless of the injury or lack thereof to other appropriators. Such a conclusion is fortified by the consideration which takes into account the fact that the statute speaks of both consumptive use and return flows.
In the usual situation — where return flows feed the stream — an appropriator would be allowed to change only the amount of his consumptive use because other appropriators would otherwise be injured. In this respect, the consumptive-use and return-flow factors overlap. Where there are no return flows to the stream, as is the situation here with respect to application of water below the divide, the return-flow factor has no relevance. Nevertheless, the consumptive-use factor must still be applied to determine the amount of water which can be transferred. Any other construction would render the consumptive-use requirement of the statute meaningless. Although of less importance in the normal return-flow situation, the consumptive-use limitation becomes significant in cases like that presented here and in other cases where there is a disparity between actual usage and adjudicated rights.
To the extent, then, that the historic consumptive-use limitation in this statute goes beyond the purpose of avoiding injury to other appropriators, the legislature must have intended to address the objective of assuring that water is beneficially used. What we have said here is supported by the eminent water-law authority, Frank J. Trelease, when he wrote:
“The new law . . . recognizes that the exceptions had practically swallowed the rule and permits all changes of water rights to new uses or places of use that do not injure other appropriators or increase the historic use of water in quantity, rate of diversion or amount of consumption.” [Emphasis supplied] Vol. X, No. 2, Wyo.Land & Water L.Rev., supra, 465, quoting from “Report of Water Resources Committee,” 6 Natural Resources Law 469 (1973).
We conclude that the language used in § 41-3-104, supra, makes manifest the legislative intent suggested in the act’s title, [567]*567particularly when the common law on the subject is considered. We hold, therefore, that the Board of Control properly interpreted § 41-3-104, supra, as requiring separate consideration of and limitation to historical consumptive uses — even though injury to other appropriators was not at issue.
“BENEFICIAL CONSUMPTIVE USE”10
Basin contends that the Board acted arbitrarily and not in conformity with the law by restricting Basin’s right of transfer to the irrigation water consumed by crops in the Long Lake closed basin instead of all water allocated under the prior appropriation. In support of this proposition, Basin points out that it is impossible to avoid some runoff from an irrigation operation, citing 2 Kinney on Water Rights and Irrigation at page 1614, and thus the closed-basin return flows herein were a necessary part of the irrigation process and the beneficial use of these appropriated waters. Basin, therefore, is challenging two aspects of the Board’s decision: (1) Conclusion of Law No. 6, supra, which defines consumptive use as essentially the amount of water consumed by the crop; and (2) Finding of Fact No. 34 (fn. 5, supra), which discloses a finding that return flows below the topographic divide were not consumptively used.
With regard to the definition of consumptive use, a review of the case law discloses that, for the purposes of transferring an irrigation water right, the concept of consumptive use has been consistently limited to the amount of water, less other contributing sources of water, which will result in the successful growing of a crop. Farmers High Line Canal & Reservoir Co., supra, 272 P.2d at 634; Green v. Chaffee Ditch Company, 150 Colo. 91, 371 P.2d 775, 780; Enterprise Irr. Dist. v. Willis, 135 Neb. 827, 284 N.W. 326, 329; In re Birdwood Irr. Dist., Water Division No. 1-A, 154 Neb. 52, 46 N.W.2d 884, 888; and Application of Frenchman Valley Irrigation District, 167 Neb. 78, 91 N.W.2d 415, 428. See also, Comment, “Determining Quantity in Irrigation Appropriations,” Vol. IV, No. 2, Wyo. Land & Water L.Rev. 501. It seems clear that, in a proper case, consideration should also be given to the amount of water lost by evaporation and seepage while the water is in transit from the headgate to the place of use. See, Green v. Chaffee Ditch Company, supra, at 780. This factor is, however, of no concern in the present litigation since the record discloses that Basin assigned no value to conveyance losses in the Boughton Ditch.
The central question is whether or not the closed-basin return flows herein were beneficially consumptively used. This is, of course, a question of fact — assuming the proper standards are employed. It must be emphasized that we are here concerned with both beneficial use and consumptive use. We note, consistent with the principles outlined in Farmers Highline Canal & Reservoir Co. v. City of Golden, supra, that these concepts cannot in all cases be equated. It has been said that “[bjeneficial use is not what is actually consumed but what is actually necessary in good faith.” 1 Wiel, Water Rights in the Western States, § 481, at 509. In this sense, beneficial use is that which is contemplated by the phrase “duty' of. water,” which itself centers on the amount “actually necessary in good faith.” 1 Clark, Waters and Water Rights, § 55.3, at 382. It is also stated:
“In a broad sense, and for the purposes of accurate measurement also, the concept of consumptive use involves evapo-transpiration and actual requirements for irrigation or municipal or domestic uses. . ” [Emphasis supplied] 1 Clark, supra, § 55.2, at 381.
We recognize that there may be circumstances where the beneficial use of water exceeds the actual consumptive use thereof. Such circumstances should be considered within the context of the change-in-use pro[568]*568ceeding when appropriate. In these cases, the definition of consumptive use can be expanded to include the actual needs for proper irrigation — beyond the less-inclusive concept of crop consumptive use. Such flexibility in the definition of consumptive use allows for the proper determination of beneficial use. The determination of beneficial use — in such proceedings — is, after all, a question of fact which depends on the circumstances of each case. City and County of Denver v. Sheriff, 105 Colo. 193, 96 P.2d 838, 842.
In the instant case, the Board has found, as a factual matter, that beneficial use of Basin’s predecessor is equal to the historic crop consumptive use on these irrigated lands. As has been noted — Conclusion of Law No. 8 says the return flows below the divide are not “being beneficially consumptively used. . . . ” Such a conclusion finds adequate support in the findings of fact which included not only calculations of actual historic consumptive use, but indications that the Board made an on-site inspection and reviewed aerial photographs to ascertain the nature of the irrigated acreage in question. As stated in Conclusion of Law No. 10:
“THAT certain matters determined by the Board relative to the water supply to intensively and less-intensively irrigated lands . . have been arrived at through independent study by the Board and are based upon the Board’s specialized knowledge in the field of practical water administration.
With respect to such factual matters, this court has always accorded deference to the Board’s peculiar knowledge and expertise, as well as the realities and records pertaining to the use or nonuse of water. Kearney Lake, Land & Reservoir Company v. Lake De Smet Reservoir Company, Wyo., 475 P.2d 548, 549; Wheatland Irrigation District v. Pioneer Canai Co., Wyo., 464 P.2d 533, 534; and Laramie Rivers Co. v. Le Vasseur, 65 Wyo. 414, 202 P.2d 680, 694-695.
We find that the Board’s response to the central question is amply supported by the evidence, when viewed in the light of the accepted definition of “consumptive use,” and its importance within the context of acquired water rights. The evidence clearly discloses that only approximately 2,451 acre-feet of water had been historically beneficially, consumptively used below the topographic divide.11 The remaining 2,215 acre-feet of water (see fn. 4) that reached the closed basin was lost essentially to surface evaporation and subsurface recharge.12 Basin would have us embrace a position holding that this amount of water was beneficially, consumptively used merely because usually some excess water is incident to the irrigation process. This we cannot do. As pointed out in the Board’s brief:
“To allow Basin Electric the right to waters diverted in excess of that amount necessary for the production of the crops in question would be to grant it a windfall based upon application of the Bough-ton Ditch water in excess of that which was beneficially used. ...”
If the amount necessary in good faith for crop production below the divide was only [569]*5692,451 acre-feet of water, any water in excess of that amount — excluding carriage water not relevant here — served no useful purpose insofar as Basin’s predecessors were concerned. See, 1 Clark, Waters and Water Rights, § 55.3, at p. 385.
Over-application amounting' to waste must be understood in a relative sense. In the instant case, excess waters above the divide historically returned to the river for use by other appropriators. Basin admits it is not entitled to this amount of water, because, under § 41-3-104, supra, it is not entitled to decrease the amount of return flows. Were it not for the unique geographic situation present here, excess waters below the divide would also return to the river for use by other appropriators. Had this excess amount of water not been diverted from the river in the first instance, it would have been available for use by other appropriators.13 It is the diversion of more water than can be consumed in good faith in the irrigation process which creates the wasteful, non-beneficial use situation now before us. This is not to say that an appropriator must find a way to return such waters to their source — it is only to say that an appropriator does not acquire a water right in water which he historically has not beneficially used. Not having acquired a water right therein, he or his successor is not entitled to change the use of such waters.
After all, this analysis and conclusion is no more than a restatement of the doctrine of beneficial use as it is applied to wasteful practices. An appropriator’s right is limited in accordance with the law declaring that the volume of water to which an appropriator is entitled is that quantity, within the limits of the appropriation, which he can and does apply to beneficial uses. Johnston v. Little Horse Creek Irr. Co., supra; and Quinn v. John Whitaker Ranch Co., 54 Wyo. 367, 92 P.2d 568, 570. The waters belong to the public, and an appropriator cannot acquire a right that permits him to use more than is reasonably necessary for beneficial purposes. Farm Investment Co. v. Carpenter, 9 Wyo. 110, 61 P. 258; Quinn v. John Whitaker Ranch Co., supra, 571; and 93 C.J.S. Waters § 178, at 929. While it appears that excess water may be reasonably necessary for irrigation, and that under certain circumstances an appropriator may put excess waters to a beneficial use, and thereby preserve his rights therein (Ide v. United States, 263 U.S. 497, 44 S.Ct. 182, 68 L.Ed. 407; and Bower v. Big Horn Canal Association, 77 Wyo. 80, 307 P.2d 593, 601), if such is not in fact the case, and water is lost insofar as the stream is concerned, then the appropriator has failed to acquire a water right to the amount of the excess. Where he cannot show, or the facts do not otherwise reveal, that the excess is necessary to the production of the crop, the appropriator is then precluded from enlarging the amount of water historically consumptively used through the device of transferring his original water right to another use or place of [570]*570use. A different construction of the statute would allow appropriators to speculate with unused waters — a policy never embraced by this court. See, Scherck v. Nichols, 55 Wyo. 4, 95 P.2d 74, 78. Such a construction would also render the statute meaningless and would be tantamount to a refusal to recognize the intent of the legislature and the purpose of the statute. While the case law dealing with changes in use is, indeed, greatly concerned with the avoidance of injury to other appropriators, in which case a change may be prohibited or limited, the law also recognizes that limitations must also be imposed to discourage wasteful practices and to encourage the proper distribution of waters to those who need them and can put the water to the maximum reasonable, beneficial use. The placement of these various' functions within the context of change-of-use proceedings, as contemplated by § 41-3-104, supra, serves to aid this maximization process.
Since the Board, in essence, found that excess waters below the divide had historically gone to waste, Basin could, therefore, acquire no right to the excess. See, Trelease, “The Concept of Reasonable Beneficial Use in the Law of Surface Streams,” Vol. 12, No. 1, Wyo.L.J. 1, 14, 16. As a result, Basin’s argument, that a denial of the right to transfer such waters is a taking without due process, is without merit.
We hold that the Board’s action in limiting the amount which could be transferred to 3,117 acre-feet of water was reasonable and in conformity with the law.
REMAINING ISSUES
In Case No. 4817, the appellants (Wheatland Irrigation District and Middle Laramie Water Users Association) raise a number of alleged errors with respect to the Board’s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, in addition to those raised by Basin. The court below, however, entered an order limiting the issues to those raised by Basin in its petition for review — there being no other petitions filed. Appellants contend that the filing of a petition for review, pursuant to Rule 72.1(c), W.R.C.P.,14 by any party is sufficient to raise ¿11 the issues which were before the administrative agency. We cannot agree.
Although Rule 72.1(c), supra, provides that after a petition for review has been filed no other pleadings shall be necessary, the administrative appeal by the party affected is initiated by the filing of a petition for review. See, Snell v. Ruppert, Wyo., 541 P.2d 1042, 1047. The necessity for filing a petition for review by each affected party is grounded on the need to have such petitions clearly frame the issues before the court for review, and to set forth the grounds relied upon for the disposition of those issues. Rule 72.1(f), W.R.C.P.; and Tri-County Electric Association v. City of Gillette, Wyo., 525 P.2d 3, 10. See, Rolfes v. State ex rel. Burt, Wyo., 464 P.2d 531, 532. Only in this manner can the trial court be assisted in carrying out its task of conducting orderly proceedings. See, Bruegman v. Johnson Ranches, Inc., Wyo., [571]*571520 P.2d 489, 491. The district court’s limitation of issues herein was, therefore, proper and they are not now properly before this court.
The district court’s order, affirming the decision of the Board of Control, is affirmed.
Affi. led.