The use of water for a purpose identified by the state as a beneficial use. Each state defines in law what uses are beneficial. They typically include consumptive uses such as agriculture, domestic, industrial, mining, recreation, etc. They may also include non-consumptive uses such as fisheries, riparian, aesthetic, recreation, etc.
Published in Chapter:
Water Right Law
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 19
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-9691-3.ch002
Abstract
Water is the most important resource on our planet. We are considered the blue planet. Only three percent of our water is freshwater. Of the three percent, only one percent is accessible for human use. Water makes up 45-75% of our body. Seventy percent of our brains are water, with 80-95% of our blood being water. Clean pure water is important to our overall health and quality of life. Water is the heart of agriculture. The availability of freshwater makes it possible to grow crops and raise livestock. Water use, in turn, is at the heart of heated discussions involving water law and policy. Water is for all users, and even though is it plentiful, there is often not the right quantity or quality in the right place at the right time to meet demand. Moreover, competition among water users, including agriculture, municipalities, industry, recreational users, and conservationists can become volatile. Through autoethnography, this chapter explores water rights laws.