Tens of millions of people — and millions of acres of farmland — rely on the Colorado River’s water. But as its supply shrinks, these farmers get more water from the river than entire states.
Asked this spring if it was fair for Imperial farmers to receive so much river water, California Gov. Gavin Newsom told The Desert Sun,“It is what it is. It’s called senior water rights, and they are well established in law. And they matter.”
The eastern US uses riparian water rights; everyone has the right to use a reasonable amount of water. If there's not enough water, water usage is limited essentially equally across all the rights-holders.
The western US mostly uses the prior appropriation doctrine - "first in time, first in right". Basically, as the west was being settled, you could use as much river water for a mine or settlement as you wanted, so long as you didn't impact the people who were already there. In the case of a shortage, people with the most recent water rights have to reduce their usage so they don't impact the senior water rights.
Western water rights maybe made sense originally as the first mines were being built, but they have inequality baked into them from the start. They don't seem like a great system for the conservation challenges of today.
The eastern US uses riparian water rights; everyone has the right to use a reasonable amount of water. If there's not enough water, water usage is limited essentially equally across all the rights-holders.
The western US mostly uses the prior appropriation doctrine - "first in time, first in right". Basically, as the west was being settled, you could use as much river water for a mine or settlement as you wanted, so long as you didn't impact the people who were already there. In the case of a shortage, people with the most recent water rights have to reduce their usage so they don't impact the senior water rights.
Western water rights maybe made sense originally as the first mines were being built, but they have inequality baked into them from the start. They don't seem like a great system for the conservation challenges of today.