East vs West - Surface Water Rights
There are two doctrines that govern surface water rights in the U.S. — one for the West and one for the East. The riparian doctrine covers the East. "[Under] the riparian
doctrine, if you live close to the river or to that water body [or]
lake, you have reasonable rights to use that water," says Venki
Uddameri, a professor and the director of water resources at Texas Tech
University. Water rights attorney Bill Ganong says, "When all of this country was developing, no one was really thinking about fish or wildlife." For decades, the government encouraged draining marshland and converting it to farms. As a result, Ganong says, the state of Oregon handed out lots of water rights. "You don't own the water," he says. "Your water right is the right to use it; it's a right of use." In an arid place like the Klamath Basin, there often isn't enough water available for everyone who has a right to use it. And the person with the oldest water right gets all the water they are entitled to first. Grand Tetons image via Shutterstock. Read more at NPR. ©2013. Copyright Environmental News Network To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.enn.com |