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Riparian water rights (or simply riparian rights) is a system for allocating water among those who possess land along its path. It has its origins in English common law . Riparian water rights exist in many jurisdictions with a common law heritage, such as Canada , Australia , New Zealand , and states in the eastern United States .
The English common law system was adopted by California in 1850. [2] [3] With regards to water rights, English common law specifies that landowners have the right to the water that runs through or adjacent to their property for reasonable household purposes as long as their use does not interfere with the rights of other riparian land owners.
The California Water Commission Act of 1913 was the first attempt by the legislature of the state of California to address water rights in a comprehensive manner. The Act was necessitated by the complicated landscape of competing water rights doctrines, demands for reclamation and irrigation, and tension between large landowners and smaller farmers all in the context of California's unique ...
A number of rights may be listed as riparian rights. One court, in McLafferty v. St. Aubiin, 500 N.W.2d 165 (Minn. App. 1993), has listed the following: Riparian rights are generally described as the rights to use and enjoy the profits and advantages of the water. See78 Am.Jur.2d Waters § 263 (1975).
The distinction between avulsion and accretion becomes important if a river forms the boundary between two riparian owners. In many jurisdictions, if the river changes channels by avulsion, the boundary does not change but remains in the middle of the old channel.
California and Texas grant waterfront property owners water allocations prior to any other users, in a hybrid system with riparian water rights. [5] [12] In Oregon, landowners have rights to water on their own land at a certain time at which it is then incorporated into the appropriation system. [13] [failed verification]
The correlative rights doctrine is a legal doctrine limiting the rights of landowners to a common source of groundwater (such as an aquifer) to a reasonable share, typically based on the amount of land owned by each on the surface above.
Many states, especially in the western United States, claim ownership of groundwater and allocate the resource through an appropriative system just as they would any surface right. Typically water rights are appropriated based on each aquifer's sustainable yield, and once all the rights are granted no further permits will be issued. Some states ...