Laserfiche WebLink
<br />.,. '08.S'6 <br /> <br />. . <br />. ' <br /> <br />\oIESiERN STA'- 'wATER .COUNCIL RESEARC.r<i)':lQSAL <br /> <br />~ater Conservation <br /> <br />and <br /> <br />Western Water Resource Management <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />Water conservation is the heart of western water resource <br /> <br />management. Once known as the Great American Desert, the West <br /> <br />has flourished and grown. Aridity is a timeless condition, and <br /> <br /> <br />the often used saying that "Water is the life blood of the West" <br /> <br /> <br />still holds true. The ~reeminent difference between the present <br /> <br /> <br />prosperity and the stark, hostile environment which early settlers <br /> <br /> <br />faced has been the wise use of water. <br /> <br />To facilitate the wise use of water, western water law has <br /> <br />. , <br /> <br />generally rejected. the riparian system of water rights associated <br /> <br /> <br />with English common law and embraced the appropriaticn system, <br /> <br /> <br />which better recognized hydrologic reality. The appropriations <br /> <br /> <br />doctrine is fundamental to western water conservation efforts. <br /> <br />It includes a general prohibition against the waste of water. <br /> <br />Further, it declares that the basis, measure and lim1t of related <br /> <br />usufructuary rights lie in putting the water to benaricial use. <br /> <br />Ironically, its function in water conservation efforts has of times <br /> <br />been neglected or misrepresented. <br /> <br />The availability of water has always circumscribed the social <br /> <br />and economic development of the West. Water conser~ation is vital, <br />