Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
rights. In normal times when there is not a severe crisis and some-
body talks about water law reform, all existing water users get all
huffy and say, 'You can't take away my property.' But in a severe
enough crisis, everyone agrees that we have to do something.”
WATER REALITIES
The two basic approaches to water rights are the tradi-
tional riparian right, stemming from English common law
and in effect in much of the East; and prior appropriation,
which conveys private ownership of a right to use water
based on fi rst in time, fi rst in right.
A third approach is a combination of both, which is
sometimes called
regulated riparianism.
In the
Winters
Doctrine, the federal government reaffi rmed
American Indians' rights to current and future potential quanti-
ties of water for their reservations. Complicating the picture,
however, is the fact that the government didn't spell out how
much water Native Americans were entitled to.
The federal government is involved in water quantity, quality,
and control with its Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of
Engineers projects as well as through more than two dozen agen-
cies that in some way regulate or address water issues.
Many water experts agree that in some instances, laws related
to water may actually exacerbate issues and problems in the
United States.
Change isn't easy, especially because existing laws and pro-
cesses are fi rmly entrenched and often involve fi nancial gain, and
obtaining consensus is tough.
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NOTES
1. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Western States Water Laws: Federal Reserved
Water Rights,” http://www.blm.gov/nstc/WaterLaws/fedreservedwater.html.
2. Wyoming Water Development Office, Wyoming State Water Plan, “Wind/
Bighorn River Basin Plan, Executive Summary,” http://waterplan.state.wy.us/
plan/bighorn/execsumm.html.
