“Water is at the heart of agriculture. Without water, crops and livestock would not be able to survive. Water used in agricultural production can be sourced from surface waters, such as rivers, lakes, streams, and ponds, or from groundwater, such as an aquifer. Each state is able to allocate this important resource, with each state having its own regulatory system to allocate both the surface waters and groundwater in the state, with very little federal intervention.” (NACL 2019)
With each state having its own say for the most part, it becomes difficult to write for all the western states, and therefore I will be focusing on Utah since it is a western state that is not extremely North or South. Allocating water handles who gets the water first, last, how much water, etc. Also it deals with what the water source is. Is it on the surface, or is it groundwater (aquifer). Utah for example follows the Prior Appropriation law for water, which means “the first landowner to beneficially use or divert water from a groundwater source is given priority over later users” (NACL 2019).
In Utah, the legislation comes from the Utah Division of Water Rights who work along with the Natural Resource Conservation Service to make sure what is best for human rights is good for the land. As for who the director is, on February 13, 2020 Teresa Wilhelmsen was sworn in as the state engineer and director of the Utah Division of Water Rights.
With the importance of water and a progressive government, there are constant changes going on, one example in Utah is recent amendments to house bill 0039. One of the amendments to the bill is that a minimum of “three individuals whose primary source of income comes from the production of agricultural commodities” (HB0039 line 38-39), must be apart of the Agricultural Water Optimization Task Force, this to protect those in agriculture who handle hands on situations and can voice from experience and knowledge.
Water is a sensitive subject, and giving voice to the public, farmers, and politicians is important. Without the view of multiple perspectives, subjects can become thwarted. We all use, share, and deposit water, it is an important resource especially in deserts where there is little.
Resources:
HB0039, le.utah.gov/~2020/bills/static/HB0039.html#73-10g-202.
Water Law Overview
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