Information about Water Law

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Water law is the field of law dealing with the ownership, control, and use of water as a resource. It is most closely related to property law, but has also become influenced by environmental law. Because water is vital to living things and to a variety of economic activities, laws attempting to govern it have far-reaching effects.

Water has unique features that make it difficult to regulate using laws designed mainly for land. Water is mobile, its supply varies by year and season as well as location, and it can be used simultaneously by many users. As with property (land) law, water rights can be described as a "bundle of sticks" containing multiple, separable activities that can have varying levels of regulation. For instance, some uses of water divert it from its natural course but return most or all of it (eg. hydroelectric plants), while others consume much of what they take (especially agriculture), and still others use water without diverting it at all (eg. boating). Each type of activity has its own needs and can in theory be regulated separately. There are several types of conflict likely to arise: absolute shortages; shortages in a particular time or place; diversions of water that reduce the flow available to others; pollutants or other changes (such as temperature or turbidity) that render water unfit for others' use; and the need to maintain "in-stream flows" of water to protect the natural ecosystem.

One theory of history, put forward in the influential book Oriental Despotism, holds that many empires were organized around a central authority that controlled a population through monopolizing the water supply. Such a hydraulic empire creates the potential for despotism, and serves as a cautionary tale for designing water regulations.

Water law involves controversy in some parts of the world where a growing population faces increasing competition over a limited natural supply. Disputes over rivers, lakes and underground aquifers cross national borders. Although water law is still regulated mainly by individual countries, there are international sets of proposed rules such as the Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers and the Hague Declaration on Water Security in the 21st Century.

Long-term issues in water law include the possible effects of global warming on rainfall patterns and evaporation; the availability and cost of desalination technology; the control of pollution, and the growth of aquaculture.

Water law in the United States

In the United States there are complex legal systems for allocating water rights that vary by region. These varying systems exist for both historical and geographic reasons.

Riparian Rights

The Eastern states (all those east of Texas, except Mississippi), follow the riparian doctrine, which permits anyone whose land has frontage on a body of water to use water from it. These states were the first settled by Europeans (and therefore most influenced by English law) and have the most available water.

Prior Appropriation

Most western states, naturally drier, generally follow the prior appropriation doctrine, which gives a water right to whoever first puts water to beneficial use. Colorado water law is generally looked to as authority by other Western states that follow the prior appropriation doctrine. Water law in the western United States is defined by state constitutions (i.e. Colorado, New Mexico) statutes, and case law. Each state exhibits variations upon the basic principles of the prior appropriation doctrine. Texas and the states directly north of it; the West Coast states, and Mississippi have a mixture of systems. Hawaii uses a form of riparian rights, and Alaska uses appropriation-based rights.

In some states Surface water, lakes, rivers, and springs, is treated differently from ground water underground water extracted by drilling wells; however, In other states surface and ground water are managed conjunctively. For example, in New Mexico, surface and ground water have been managed together since the 1950s. This trend comes from a growing scientific understanding of the formerly mysterious behavior of underground water systems. For instance, gradual contamination of some water supplies with salt has been explained with the knowledge that drawing water from a well creates a gradual seepage into the well area, potentially contaminating it and surrounding areas with seawater from a nearby coast. Such knowledge is useful for understanding the effects of human activity on water supplies but can also create new sources of conflict.

A variety of federal, state, and local laws govern water rights. One issue unique to America is the law of water with respect to American Indians.

Major Legal Cases in American Water Law

Significant cases in Washington State

Water law in the European Union

For countries within the European Union, water-related directives are important for water resource management and environmental and water quality standards. Key directives include the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 1992 [1] (requiring most towns and cities to treat their wastewater to specified standards), and the Water Framework Directive 2000, which requires water resource plans based on river basins, including public participation based on Aarhus Convention principles. See Watertime — the international context, Section 2.

See also

• Drinking water
• Water quality
• Water right
• Law of the Sea

Further reading

• George Vranesh, Colorado Water Law. Revised Edition, University Press of Colorado (2000), ISBN 0-87081-543-1, 2003 supplement (March, 2004), ISBN 0-87081-755-8
• Washington Office of Attorney General. "An Introduction to Washington Water Law."

References

• Hildering, A. (2004), International Law, Sustainable Development and Water Management, Eburon Academic Publishers, Delft, The Netherlands, 2004 http://www.eburon.nl/library/hildering.pdf
• International Law Association Water Resources Committee (2004), Final Report presented at the Association's 2004 Conference in Berlin http://www.ila-hq.org/pdf/Water%20Resources/Final%20Report%202004.pdf
• UNEP (2002), Vital Water Graphics — An Overview of the State of the World's Fresh and Marine Waters. UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.unep.org/vitalwater/
• Sax, J. L., et al.. Legal Control of Water Resources: Cases and Materials (4th edition). Thomson/West (2006), ISBN-13 978-0-314-16314-1; ISBN-10 0-314016314-X.

External links

• UNEP Environmental Law Programme
• International Water Law Project
• International Water Law Research Institute, Dundee University, UK
• Centre for Comparative Water Policies and Laws, University of South Australia
• Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law. Peace Palace Library
• New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, Litigation and Adjudication Program
• The Water Report