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Water is very scarce in the West and so must be allocated sparingly, based on the productivity of its use. The prior appropriation doctrine developed in the Western United States from Spanish (and later Mexican) civil law and differs from the riparian water rights that apply in the rest of the United States.
Colorado, where the prior appropriation doctrine first developed, was generally looked to as the model by other Western states that adopted the prior appropriation doctrine. Water law in the western United States is defined by state constitutions (e.g., Colorado, New Mexico), statutes, and case law. Each state exhibits variations upon the basic ...
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 other major model is the prior appropriations model, the first party to make use of a water supply has the first rights to it, regardless of whether the property is near the water source. [6] Riparian systems are generally more common in areas where water is plentiful, while appropriations systems are more common in dry climates.
These two systems of water rights were at odds with one another. [2] [3] Appropriative water rights granted the first to claim the water's use complete rights to it. Riparian water rights established that use of the water was an uncontested right that came with the land and did not have to be shared with non-riparian land owners. The case of Lux v.
The Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 is the oldest federal environmental law in the United States. [1] The Act makes it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse matter of any kind into the navigable waters , or tributaries thereof, of the United States without a permit; this specific provision is known as the Refuse Act .
Prior-appropriation water rights; PUD No. 1 of Jefferson County v. Washington Department of Ecology; R. Red River Compact Commission; Rivers and Harbors Act;
The McCarran Amendment, 43 U.S.C. § 666 (1952) is a federal law enacted by the United States Congress in 1952 which waives the United States' sovereign immunity in suits concerning ownership or management of water rights. It amended Chapter 15 (Appropriation of Waters; Reservoir Sites) of Title 43 (Public Lands) of the United States Code. The ...