Arid western states replaced riparian doctrine with prior appropriation water rights

Evidence

Some western states—​Texas and California—​were rich in resources and had some excellent farmland. But most of the West was bleak, arid, and mountainous. The landscape strained inherited law about water and other resources. The common-​law rule for water was the so-​called doctrine of riparian rights. Every landowner, in other words, along the banks of a river, had an equal right to take water; no one owner could take so much that the stock was depleted. This made sense in rainy England and in rainy parts of the United States—​the South, East, and Middle West. The West was desert or semi-​desert. Western states, in general, tossed aside the doctrine of riparian rights. What replaced this was the concept of prior appropriation, which meant, more or less, first come, first served. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 2135

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines riparian rights versus prior appropriation, key shared vocabulary for the polyad’s environmental-justice thread.
• ADDENDUM: Supports the reader’s environmental-justice polyad thread: law reshaped to arid western landscape is groundwork later environmental law (e.g., the Noise Control Act readings) sits on.
• XREF: connects to: Prior appropriation doctrine subsidized industry by letting water be taken free — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 2135; Water rights become exclusive only where scarcity makes access costly — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 65

Broader Connections

• Water rights become exclusive only where scarcity makes access costly #qualifies (0.75) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 65