The Knowledge Of And Attitudes Toward Kansas Water Rights Law Of Irrigators In The High Plains Of Western Kansas

Author : John C. Peck
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (137 download)

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Download or read book Property Rights in Groundwater - Some Lessons from the Kansas Experience written by John C. Peck and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This article summarizes the ideas presented by the author at the Kyoto 3rd World Water Forum. In general, American states and not the national government control water resources. Western states generally define water rights as property rights and apply the prior appropriation doctrine, or “first in time is first in right”, to handle disputes in times of shortage. Kansas, located in the center of the U.S., adopted this doctrine in its 1945 Water Appropriation Act and expressly defined water rights as “real property rights.” Permits were issues through the 1960s when authorities became aware that groundwater depletion was occurring in the groundwater aquifers. The legislature then enacted a statute that enabled creation of “groundwater management districts” (GMD), which were to allow local control of groundwater within the framework of Kansas water law, and “intensive groundwater use control areas” (IGUCAs), for more intensive management in serious problem areas. An IGUCA was created in the Cheyenne Bottoms area in 1992, and the Order cut back on existing irrigation water rights by limiting annual quantities from 64% to 71%. A potential problem with cutting annual quantity of existing water rights is that such action might amount to a “taking” of property, for which compensation to the water right holder should be paid, but the irrigators did not appeal the Order The article describes other attempts to control groundwater withdrawals, discusses philosophical and policy issues, and proposes a solution for Kansas that would involve incremental reduction of groundwater pumping to achieve safe yield 25 or 40 years in the future.