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For most of the state's history, the system has functioned to provide the water need- ed for an ever-growing economy and population. In the past, potential shortages and con~ fliets over the allocation of water could be resolved by the development of new and additional water supplies. 68 CALIFORNIA WATER from judicially developed doctrines, some derived from the English common law, and some adapted to meet current conditions such as the appropriations of stream flow for mining operations. Even today, groundwater law continues to be largely court-made, based upon decisions in individual cases. There was no state statutory system for the allocation and regulation of water until 1914, and then it applied ouly to stream flow, excluding groundwater. Yet before that time, substantial development of surface waters had already occurred (for example, the construction of the first Don Pedro Dam on the Tuolunme River by the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts and the development of their extensive irrigation systems). Water rights to stream flow acquired before 1914 continue today to be exempt from the state permit system. Today, water allocation and use is further controlled by numerous local agencies and by the laws governing the massive water projects that move water throughout the length and breadth of the state. More recently, both state and federal environmental laws have overridden traditional water "rights" and controlled diversions and use of water. Despite this history, in 1978 the Governor's Commission to Review California Water Rights found that "The existing system per- formed in much better fashion than might have been anticipated dur- ing two of the driest years [1976-19771 in California history."15 The Commission recommended specific improvements to the state's water rights system but rejected proposals for sweeping changes such as adjudicating the amount and priority of all water rights or bringing all existing groundwater pumping under the state permit system. There is no assurance that a system of bureaucratic state control would produce better results. Until the last 15 years or so, the state's water system, hodgepodge though it may be, continued to meet the water demands of an ever-growing economy and population. To be sure, the system has functioned in the past partially because potential shortages and conflicts among users could be resolved by the devel- opment of new and additional water supplies. When pumping was limited by court decree to prevent continued overdraft in a nmnber of Southern California groundwater basins, supplemental water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California was available to offset the cutbacks and provide for future growth. Certainly this approach will be more difficult in the future. Indeed, we have recently 15 Governor's Commission to Review California "Vater Rights, 1978, Final Report, page 12.