Water Rights
Water is an important resource. As such it is often the subject of legal challenges.
Surface Water: the ownership of surface water is governed by two doctrines of law.
1) Riparian Doctrine: water use is based on ownership of the adjacent land. Landowner may make any reasonable use of the water as long as it does not interfere with his neighbor's use of the water. This doctrine prevails in 31 humid states east of the 100th meridian.
2) Prior Appropriations Doctrine: Those owners that were there first have the rights to the water in time of shortage. First owners have priority rights and subsequent users MUST NOT harm prior users of that water. This doctrine also implies that water can be transported away. This view prevails in the western states that have less water. It was developed to encourage settlement of the West.
Groundwater: groundwater laws very similar to surface water laws.
