Water Rights refers to a legal system for allocating water from a water source to water users. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious. In other areas, especially arid areas where irrigation is practiced, such systems are often the source of conflict, both legal and physical. Some systems treat surface and sub-surface water in the same manner, while others use different principals for each.

In the United States, there are two divergent systems for determining water rights. Riparian water rights (derived from English common law) are common in the east and prior appropriation water rights (developed in Colorado) are common in the west. The details vary from state to state. California law, for example, includes elements of both systems.

See Also

• Water Resources

Related Literature

• deVilliers, Marq. Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource. Mariner Books, 2001. ISBN 0618127445.