"Western water law is based on the prior appropriation doctrine, which gives the first entity to make "beneficial use" of water the right to keep on using that amount, even if that means that upstream "junior" users' spigots will get shut off. By the early 1900s, a rapidly growing California was enthusiastically diverting the Colorado River, with huge irrigation districts gobbling up the senior water rights."
"One oft-repeated maxim, usually used to justify building a new dam or encouraging inefficient irrigation practices, was: If we don't use the water, it will just flow downstream to California - where it would presumably be used to water golf courses, fill LA's swimming pools and serve other nefarious West Coast purposes."
Western water culture is shaped by scarcity and the prior appropriation doctrine, which grants senior water rights to the first entity making beneficial use of water. This legal framework has historically favored California's early diversions of the Colorado River through large irrigation districts, while less-populous upstream states like Colorado and Wyoming received junior status. The sentiment that unused water flowing downstream represents waste has strengthened as the Colorado River and its reservoirs reach critically low levels. The seven states dependent on the river cannot agree on management strategies, making the central question how much water should flow to California, Arizona, and Nevada. This conflict reflects both historical animosity toward wealthy coastal states and the structural inequities embedded in Western water law.
#colorado-river-water-allocation #prior-appropriation-doctrine #western-water-law #interstate-water-conflicts #water-scarcity-management
Read at High Country News
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