Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
except that Florida permits initially are limited to a certain time and
to “signifi cant” withdrawals, adds Tarlock. As is the way with water,
signifi cant
is defi ned differently in different places.
This approach does not involve prior appropriation, says Sims.
“It's recognition of the rights of existing users to have a permit
to continue using the water. At renewal time, however, permitted
quantities are reevaluated and may or may not be approved. There
are quantity thresholds below which you can use a general permit,
and there's an exemption for private, domestic use.”
“We are moving toward regulated riparianism,” agrees Phila-
delphia water expert and attorney Kenneth J. Warren. “Under
the old riparian doctrine, courts applied a reasonable-use stan-
dard. With surface water, at least, a person owning land abutting
the stream could use the water as long as the landowner did not
unreasonably interfere with other users of that surface water. With
the need for public water systems and economic development, that
system evolved, and today many jurisdictions employ a permitting
system,” says Warren. “In the Delaware River Basin, for example,
the Delaware River Basin Commission issues permits for large with-
drawals. Permits are for a limited duration and, unlike prior appro-
priation in the West, the regulatory agency can modify or revoke
them. That's the case even though some permits do not have an
automatic expiration date and may look like they are permanent. It
is the right of the agency to modify or revoke the permit.”
Portent of water wars to come
. Permitted water rights in the East are
not granted in perpetuity, Sims adds. “Other users can come in and
compete for that water. So far, at least in Florida, the water man-
agement districts have been able to resolve competing-use confl icts.
But it's a war waiting to happen. No specifi c rule really explains how
you sort out competing uses. The statute says [that] all other things
being equal, the renewal application gets the preference.”
How does a water management agency determine if all other
things are equal? Like so many questions and issues relating to
water, the solution is open to interpretation.
Another state that has adopted a water permit system for signifi -
cant withdrawals is Massachusetts. The Massachusetts water man-
agement act requires the state environmental protection agency to
consider whether a large new water withdrawal is a good idea from
