When two or more applications are made to appropriate underground water for irrigation purposes from what appears to the State Engineer to be the same basin the State Engineer shall observe the following order of priority in acting upon them, according to the status of the applicant and the intended place of use:

1. 1. An owner of land for use on that land.
2. 2. An owner of land for use on adjacent land for which he or she intends to file an application under the Carey Act or the Desert Land Entry Act, 43 U.S.C. §§ 321 et seq.
3. 3. Any other person whose application is preparatory to proceeding under the Carey Act or the Desert Land Entry Act.

(Added to NRS by 1981, 915)