Introduced
by
To establish that groundwater is a “public trust.” This would replace the current legal doctrine that gives the owner of real property a property right to the reasonable use of groundwater, to the extent this does not diminish the ability of neighboring property owners to obtain water. Instead, the use of groundwater would be subject to state approval and regulation. The current “riparian” water use doctrine is the norm east of the Mississippi River, but not in arid states of the west.
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
