WSP01794

• File Number: 8051
• Description: Area of Origin
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 1/1/1986
• Author: McDonnel and Howell
• Title: University of Colorado Law Review - Area-Of-Origin Protection in Transbasin Water Diversions: An Evaluation of Alternative Approaches
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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AREA.OF.ORIGI~ PROTECTIO!'i IN
TRA:SSBASIN '"VATER DIVERSIONS: AN
EVALuATION OF ALTERNATIVE
APPROACHES

L....WRE:>ICE], M....cDONNELL.
A:>ID CHARLES W. HOWE"

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1. INTRODUCTION

In the arid West, population is often concentrated in areas with
limited surface water supplies. It has long been the practice to supple-
ment local supplies by bringing in water from other locations. In
many cases. these transfers involve moving water substantial dis-
tances---often between separate drainages and eyen between separate
river basins, The receiving area benefits from the additlonal water that
becomes available, However, concerns about the loss of this water to
the area from which it is taken (the area of origin) have led many
western states to enact some form of statutory protection or
limitation,'
This paper considers the approaches that have been taken to ac.
commodate the interests of the area of origin. We begin with a brief
discussion of the general legal context established by the prior appro-
priation doctrine. We turn next to a consideration of the conceptual
basis underlying area-of-origin protection, We then discuss the vari-
ous types of existing legal protection. Finally we oner an economic
framework within which to evaluate such legal approaches. and apply
that framework to the approaches previously described,

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II. GENER....L LEGAL CONTEXT: THE PRIOR
ApPROPRIATlOt'< SYSTEM

The prior appropriation system, prevalent in the western United
States, evolved from the customs of mid-nineteenth.century mining

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