Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Another criticism of prior appropriation is that because it's a “use
it or lose it” approach—if you don't use your full allocation under
your water rights, those rights can be revoked, forfeited, or aban-
doned—people overuse rather than conserve water, Tarlock says.
Today more than ever, the management of water in the
United States and Mexico is all about water rights, and that to
some extent is part of the problem, says Steve Mumme. He adds,
“There is a certain institutional complexity here that really affects
the little guy. The way water is used and the way it is consumed are
directly dependent on a welter of overlaying U.S. federal, state,
and even local laws that are complicated by international trea-
ties and agreements. . . . We have created systems in which, espe-
cially in the Southwest and the more arid regions of the country,
the use of any land or real property is tied to water property rights.
Any changes in these laws, and especially changes to the treaties,
affect these property rights. . . . If you start mucking around with
the foundational documents, everybody is affected, and everybody
goes ballistic.”
LEGAL OVERHAUL AHEAD?
An overhaul of existing water laws obviously isn't a popular or, for
that matter, an especially practical or immediate solution. “All things
considered, don't expect radical changes in water rights and laws.
We have so many stakeholders with vested interests that it will be
diffi cult to make dramatic changes unless they are confronted with
a crisis,” says Frank Richards, a former hydrometeorologist with the
National Weather Service's Hydrologic Information Center.
However, change is absolutely necessary, says Villanova's
Dellapenna, author of
Water and Water Rights
, a standard reference
work on U.S. water law. Revision is necessary, because existing water
laws are premised on an expectation about the relationship between
a certain amount of water supply and demand. “That expectation
no longer holds,” says Dellapenna. “This is most dramatic in places
like the Colorado River Basin, though it's true across the country to
varying degrees.
“First, we need water law reform at the state level,” says
Dellapenna. “Second, we need a better system of state cooperation
