Who Owns Your Water?
A Crash Course in United States Surface and Groundwater Rights
“Who owns the water?” is not a question you may have asked yourself. However, this is not a new question for many, and there is some legal framework, however arbitrary it may be, to address it. Usage and misusage of water upstream can have lasting effects on areas downstream, and as you may imagine, the issues over water rights and ownership in the United States can be extremely contentious. With the effects of climate change continuing, so too will the issues with our water. That said, now might be a good time to brush up on exactly who owns the water around us.
Surface Waters
Surface waters can be traditionally classified in either of two legal doctrines, according to an NPR News story from All Things Considered in 2013. The Riparian Doctrine, colloquially known as “reasonable rights,” applies to the Eastern part of the United States. West of the Mississippi is governed by the Prior Appropriation Doctrine. Bill Ganong, a water rights attorney, explains in that report that water rights are a right of use, as opposed to a right of ownership.
Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute (LII) explains the rights of the Riparian Doctrine applying to people who own land bordering a body of water being limited to…
