KITE, Chief Justice.
[¶ 1] Wagonhound Land and Livestock Company, LLC (Wagonhound), VenJohn Oil, Inc., and Steven M. VenJohn (VenJohn) (collectively Applicants) filed a petition with the Wyoming State Board of Control (Board) seeking to change the place of use, point of diversion and means of conveyance for water appropriations attached to 174.8 acres. VenJohn owned the appropriations from the North Platte River and requested that the point of diversion and place of use of the rights be moved upstream to Wagonhound's land. Vic and Jane Garber, et al. (Objectors), who were intervening water right holders, objected to the petition, and the Board held a contested case hearing. The Board granted the Applicants' petition but reduced the transferred rights to 152.5 acres.
[¶ 2] The Objectors petitioned the district court for review of the Board's decision, and that court affirmed. They then appealed to this Court. We conclude that the Board's decision is supported by substantial evidence and is consistent with the law; consequently, we affirm.
[¶ 3] The Objectors present the following issues on appeal:
The Applicants articulate a single issue:
[¶ 4] On October 4, 2007, Wagonhound and VenJohn filed a petition with the Board seeking to change the place of use, point of diversion and means of conveyance of water appropriations attached to 174.8 acres. The petition requested the transfer of VenJohn's water rights approximately thirty miles upstream from his land near Orin Junction to lands owned by Wagonhound northwest of Douglas, Wyoming. The Applicants proposed that additional water rights owned by Wagonhound be combined with the VenJohn rights to fill out acreage to be irrigated under three center pivot sprinklers on Wagonhound's land.
[¶ 6] The Objectors further contended that granting the petition would decrease flows available to them because the new diversion point was upstream, whereas the historic diversion point was downstream and had contributions from intervening tributaries. Objectors maintained that the transferred water right should be decreased by 7.6% to account for the tributary contributions that would no longer be available to supply the transferred water right.
[¶ 7] The Board held a contested case hearing on April 17-18, 2008, and at its August 18, 2008, meeting voted to grant the petition in part and deny it in part. Specifically, the Board allowed the transfer of water rights attached to 152.5 of the requested 174.8 acres. The reduction consisted of 6.4 acres to account for a four percent (4%) loss of tributary inflows and 15.9 acres to account for lands VenJohn had historically irrigated with contract reservoir water rather than natural flow water rights. The Board conditioned its approval on the Applicants' submission of amended petition maps, showing, among several changes, the acreage reductions by the Board.
[¶ 8] After receiving the amended maps, the Board issued its written findings of fact, conclusions of law and order. The Board concluded that, with the reductions it made to the requested water right transfer, the petitioned change of place of use "will not allow a quantity of water to be transferred which exceeds the amount historically diverted under existing uses, exceeds the historic rate of diversion, increases the historic amount consumptively used, decreases the historic amount of return flow or in any manner injures other existing lawful appropriators within the meaning of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 41-3-104." The Board further concluded that the change in point of diversion and means of conveyance for the petitioned water right "will not injuriously affect the rights of other appropriators within the meaning of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 41-3-114(f)."
[¶ 9] The Objectors petitioned the district court for review of the Board's order, and that court upheld the Board's decision. The Objectors then appealed to this Court.
[¶ 10] The Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act governs our review of agency action and provides in pertinent part:
Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-3-114(c) (LexisNexis 2011).
[¶ 11] In accordance with § 16-3-114(c), we review the agency's factual determinations by applying the substantial evidence standard, meaning we determine whether there is relevant evidence in the entire record which a reasonable mind might accept in support of the agency's conclusions. Dale v. S & S Builders, LLC, 2008 WY 84, ¶ 22, 188 P.3d 554, 561 (Wyo.2008). Our review of any particular decision turns not on whether we agree with the outcome, but on whether the agency could reasonably conclude as it did based upon all of the evidence presented. Id. This Court has recognized that the Board of Control has a particular knowledge and expertise in the area of water use and nonuse, and we accord deference to that knowledge and expertise in our review of the Board's factual findings. Basin Elec. Power Co-op. v. State Bd. of Control, 578 P.2d 557, 568 (Wyo.1978). We review an agency's conclusions of law de novo, and will affirm an agency's legal conclusion only if it is in accordance with the law. Dale, ¶ 26, 188 P.3d at 562.
[¶ 12] Changes in place of use of water rights are governed by § 41-3-104:
(emphasis added). A change in place of use obviously also necessitates changes in point of diversion and means of conveyance which are governed by § 41-3-114. Section 41-3-114(f) states that "[n]o petition shall be granted if the right of other appropriators will be injuriously affected."
[¶ 14] The Objectors' argument depends on the transferred water right being diverted at the maximum rate every single day of the irrigation season. The argument falters because the diversion of water at the maximum rate every day during a hypothetical 153-day irrigation season is an unlikely, if not impossible, scenario. Mr. Fassett himself testified that he is not aware of any irrigators in the county that divert at their full rate of diversion every day of the irrigation season.
[¶ 15] Dustin Ewing, Wagonhound's business manager, testified regarding the Objectors' concern that Wagonhound would divert water at the maximum rate:
[¶ 16] Doyl Fritz, Applicants' expert who reviewed the historic operations at both the VenJohn and Wagonhound properties, testified there would be no reason for such an increase in diversion:
[¶ 17] In determining the amount of VenJohn's historical use available to transfer to Wagonhound, the Board relied upon evidence of the amount of acreage historically irrigated and the statutory diversion rate of 1 cfs per 70 acres. See generally, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 41-4-317 (LexisNexis 2011). The evidence included the pump diversion records, the State's five year base maps showing actual irrigated acreage from 2002 through 2006, aerial infrared photographs showing evidence of irrigation on VenJohn's land, VenJohn property water usage records for 2007, and testimony by Mr. VenJohn and Greg Richendifer, Wagonhound's farm manager, confirming irrigation activities from 1998 through 2007 on the VenJohn property.
[¶ 19] Mr. Fritz testified that the actual amounts diverted under any water right in different seasons will vary depending on amounts of precipitation, other climate conditions, crop choice and application methods. In fact, the evidence showed that, over a ten year period from 1997 through 2007, VenJohn diverted significantly different amounts of water, ranging from a low of 178 acre feet in 1998 to a high of 717 acre feet in 2006. Even though the diverted amounts changed from year to year, the water was still applied to the acreage annually.
[¶ 20] The Board's decision to consider the historical use question from the standpoint of acreage historically irrigated, rather than a total volume of water which could be diverted if exercised at the maximum amount for the entire irrigation season, is consistent with the concept of the "duty of water" which was discussed in Basin Electric, 578 P.2d 557. The duty of water is described generally as
Id. at 564, quoting Farmers Highline Canal & Reservoir Co. v. City of Golden, 129 Colo. 575, 272 P.2d 629, 634-35 (1954).
[¶ 21] Using the actual amount of acres irrigated as the means of measuring historic use, the Board reduced the transferred amount by 15.9 acres to account for acreage not historically irrigated by VenJohn using its natural flow rights. The evidence established that, in all but one year, the 15.9 acres had been irrigated with contract reservoir water. The Board's denial of a transfer of those acres, together with the 6.4 acre reduction for loss of tributary inflows (discussed infra), resulted in a reduction of the allowed diversion rate from 2.5 cfs to 2.18 cfs (152.5 acres divided by 70 to account for the 1 cfs per 70 acre statutory diversion rate). Deferring to the Board's expertise in matters of water use and non-use, we see no error in its decision to use actual acreage irrigated rather than the average amount of water diverted as the means for determining VenJohn's historic use. Thus, the evidence of VenJohn's historic use of its water right and Wagonhound's typical irrigation procedures provided substantial evidence in support of the Board's decision that, as reduced, the transferred water right will not "exceed the amount of water historically diverted under the existing use, nor exceed the historic rate of diversion under the existing use." Section 41-3-104.
[¶ 22] The third factor identified in § 41-3-104 is consumptive use. Under the statute, the transfer shall not "increase the historic amount consumptively used under the existing use." Id. In Basin Electric, 578
[¶ 23] The Objectors do not dispute this, but instead argue that Wagonhound has a complex irrigation system that will allow it to divert continuously at the maximum rate "with no effort being made to ensure that the VenJohn water is actually applied to the land to which it is attached."
[¶ 24] The evidence does not support the Objectors' argument. Greg Richendifer, Wagonhound's farm manager, testified:
[¶ 25] The Objectors' argument that Wagonhound will improperly apply the transferred water is speculative and suggests that the water use authorities would allow misuse of water resources. We decline to accept their premise. Considering the type of land, climate and other on-the-ground factors, the evidence supports the Board's conclusion that the transfer will not result in any greater consumption of water by Wagonhound than VenJohn's operations did.
[¶ 26] The next § 41-3-104 factor requires that the transfer not decrease the historic amount of return flow. Return flow is related to the concept of consumptive use because the water that is not consumed returns to the river. The Objectors contend the transfer of the VenJohn water right may reduce the return flows to the river because Wagonhound diverts water into lined ponds,
[¶ 27] The Objectors' allegations regarding the loss of return flow are not supported by the record. VenJohn and Richendifer both testified that, while the VenJohn irrigation system was not as complex as the Wagonhound system, it was an efficient system that allowed very little runoff or return flow. Thus, the evidence showed there was very little return flow under either the VenJohn or Wagonhound operation. The Board's determinations that the transfer would not result in greater consumptive use or decrease the return flows are supported by relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept in support of its conclusions.
[¶ 28] Finally, § 41-3-104 states that a change in place of use will not be allowed if it would in any manner injure other existing lawful appropriators and § 41-3-114 states that a change of point of diversion and means of conveyance shall not be granted "if the right of other appropriators will be injuriously affected." The Objectors argue that they will be injured by a transfer of VenJohn's water rights to Wagonhound because:
[¶ 29] On the question of injury to other appropriators, the Board noted the testimony of Applicants' expert Doyl Fritz:
[¶ 30] The Objectors' assertion that they would be injured by the transfer depends upon findings in their favor on the other § 41-3-104 factors. Given our conclusion that substantial evidence supports the Board's determination that the petition meets the other requirements of the statute and the specific evidence that the proposed changes would not result in any measurable changes in the North Platte River flow, we also conclude the record contains substantial evidence to support the Board's conclusion that the Objectors will not be injured by the transfer.
[¶ 31] The Board made a 4% reduction in the transferred water right to account for contributions from the two main tributaries above the historic diversion point, Wagonhound and LaBonte creeks, that will not be available to supply the transferred water right at the new point of diversion. The Board made the following findings in support of its reduction:
[¶ 32] The Objectors had requested a 7.6% reduction in accordance with Mr. Fassett's testimony and on appeal challenge the Board's 4% reduction. However, Mr. Fassett acknowledged that the 7.6% figure was an estimate based on average tributary contributions that are higher early in the irrigation season and "very modest" late in the season. Additionally, the years from which the data was extracted for that average were selected years before 1969.
[¶ 33] The Applicants, on the other hand, presented evidence that measurements of the flow of the North Platte River above and below the tributaries indicate they did not contribute in any material fashion to the total flow of the river. There was also evidence presented at the hearing indicating that the flow of Wagonhound Creek during the preceding five years was insufficient to fulfill even the permitted appropriations on the creek. Given the conflicting evidence and the difficulty in calculating the tributary contributions with any degree of precision, the Board's decision to rely on its own expertise and apply a 4% reduction to account for the tributary inflows was appropriate. See generally, Basin Electric, 578 P.2d at 568.
[¶ 34] The Objectors contend the Applicants' petition to change the point of diversion was defective because it did not fully identify ownership of the appropriation or state whether VenJohn was the sole owner of the facilities involved or had obtained the consent of other owners, as required by § 41-3-114. Specifically, the petition did not identify the ownership interests of Michael Long, David Sea, and Christopher Cox. Nevertheless, the three landowners did have notice of the proceeding and Mr. Long and Mr. Cox both appeared and testified at the hearing.
[¶ 35] The Board acknowledged the defects in the petition and directed the Applicants to correct the petition and submit amended petition maps to reflect the ownership interests of the omitted landowners. The Applicants submitted the amended petition maps prior to entry of the Board's order.
[¶ 36] Although the Objectors claim the defects in the original petition require reversal of the Board's decision, they do not sufficiently explain why the amendment process was inappropriate or how it violated statute or board rules. They also do not demonstrate how the other landowners were injured by the petition or the process employed by the Board. Without further explanation, we cannot accept the Objectors' argument.
[¶ 37] Affirmed.