Property right protection and aquifer development management are the primary goals of groundwater agencies in the western United States. A variety of implementation strategies are used to foster these goals. Some strategies are more discretionary than others; some are more encouraging of local decision-making; some are intended to promote renewal rather than depletion of groundwater resources. This research identifies and classifies legislative, administrative, and judicial groundwater management approaches. Each category of approach is evaluated in terms of the effectiveness and the equity with which the goals of property right protection and aquifer development management are met. The management methods which most effectively and equitably protect property rights and control aquifer development are recommended. These methods limit the cumulative extent of drawdown caused by well interference and establish a maximum allowable rate of static water level decline.

This study examines the groundwater controversy in U.S.-Mexican relations and the role domestic political structures are likely to play in shaping a bilateral agreement apportioning transboundary groundwater. The study shows that waterpolicy making in the United States takes a distributive form while policy making in Mexico resembles a mobilization style of policy formation. It is argued that these dissimilar national water policy systems affect the way both nations engage the other in bilateral water disputes and are relvant to ascertaining the prospects for resolving the groundwater controversy. The study surveys the relevant hydrological, historical and economic context bearing on the groundwater dispute, then examines the moles of domestic policy making in each country. It follows with an analysis of how national differences in policy making are witnessed in previous bilateral water conflicts. Water policy patterns pertaining to the United States and Mexico respectively strongly influence the making of foreing policy in this sogere. Domestic policy making affects the manner of politization, objectives sought by each nation, and the diplomatic style seen in the adjustment of bilateral water agreements. Patterns seen in previous water conflicts, it is suggested, may obtain in the groundwater case. Nevertheless, the groundwater controversy is substantially different from earlier surface water disputs. Hydrological variation between problem situations is apt to fragment political interests in the United States. Nor is there a firm basis for approaching a settlement in international law. These conditions frustrate extrapolation of past political patterns to the groundwater situation. The study concludes analyzing various methods for resolving the groundwater conflict in light of political limitations. Of these alternatives, a case by case, ad hoc approach to settling the groundwater conflict is indicated as the most feasible approach. Attainment of a fully comprehensive groundwater treaty as now envisioned by the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), is not likely to be achieved. However, formal comprehensiveness can be had by conferring on IBWC comprehensive authority to seek case by case solutions.

Prepared for the U.S. Water Resources Scientific Information Center./ Bibliography: p. 141-220.

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The decline of groundwater levels in Final County, Arizona has not only resulted in land subsidence, but has entailed higher pumping costs for irrigation water. The Pinal Active Management Area (PAMA) is thus one of four critical groundwater overdraft areas in which water conservation is to be enforced by mandate of the Arizona Groundwater Management Act. The Groundwater Management Act as it relates to the PAMA is evaluated with respect to an accepted theoretical groundwater management model in order to determine its potential effectiveness in achieving basin-wide water conservation. The indications are that implementation problems may greatly reduce the effectiveness of the Act. The potential for farm-level water conservation is evaluated by performing a detailed benefit-cost analysis of four alternative on-farm water conservation measures. These include laser leveling, which improves the water application efficiency of traditional furrow irrigation systems from 60 to 85 percent, the installation of center pivot or drip irrigation systems, with potential water application efficiencies of 75 and 90 percent respectively, and the introduction of lettuce, a high-value and less water-intensive crop, into the traditional crop mix. The social and private profitability measures obtained from the analysis indicate that only cotton and lettuce show a profit in the long run with respect to all the irrigation systems, and these profits are highest when farms are laser leveled. The remaining traditional crops, namely alfalfa, wheat, barley, sorghum and safflower, all indicate losses. The magnitude of these losses is least in laser leveled farms. When crops are combined in a farming enterprise so as to simulate more realistic conditions, laser leveling yields the highest net returns to water in the long run. These results lead to the conclusion that the effectiveness of the Groundwater Management Act can be considerably enhanced by providing incentives that encourage farmers to invest in laser leveling.

Ground water is a critical element of the ecosystem in the Great Lakes Basin. It is an integral component of a dynamic hydrological system that is the lifeblood for this region's remarkable natural diversity. It is also an important human resource. Unfortunately, intensive ground water withdrawals are resulting in negative consequences that are often hidden from view but which are causing social conflicts and environmental degradation. This thesis considers the failure of courts and governments to implement laws for allocating ground water rights according to hydrological reality and the collective interests of affected communities. Legal mechanisms are rooted in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Despite rapid growth and the considerable pressure now exerted on ground water resources, courts and governments continue to allow, and even encourage unrestricted ground water withdrawals. The underlying ideology of state institutions within the Basin is contributing to the systematic undervaluation of environmental and long term interests of present and future generations. A reinvigorated concept of sustainability, one that is based on the ideals of deliberative democracy, would better represent these interests in decisions concerning the allocation of ground water. Through the process of ground water allocation planning, decision-making can be guided into a preventative and community-oriented approach that more accurately reflects the long term interests of the Basin. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

Texas is the last remaining state to utilize the rule of capture, a doctrine based on English Common Law, as a means of regulating groundwater resources. Many of the western states originally used the rule of capture to regulate their groundwater resources, but over time, each of these states replaced the rule of capture with other groundwater laws and regulations. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) State Water Plan, Water for Texas-2002, warned Texans if current water usage and laws do not change, there will be an unmet need of 7.5 million acre-feet of water annually by 2050. This caused individuals in state and local government to begin asking the question, "How are we going to meet our future water needs?" In the search for a solution to the water shortage problem people have divided themselves into two groups: one wants to consider the implementation of water conservation measures to reduce per capita water use in order to meet future demands; while the other group wants to spend millions of dollars to build reservoirs and dams along with laying thousands of miles of pipeline to move water around the state. The fact that Texas has yet to come up with a definitive answer to their water shortage peaked my curiosity to research what caused the State of Texas to get to a point of having a shortage of fresh water and then look at possible solutions that incorporate water conservation measures. In my thesis I present a historical overview of the rule of capture as Texas's means of groundwater management in order to illustrate the role it played in contributing to the water shortage Texans now face. I also take a historical look at the environmental justice movement, a grass-roots movement by environmentalists and Civil Rights activists working together to guarantee the rights of low-income and minority communities to clean and healthy environments, focusing on several acts and policies enacted by the federal government as a direct result of this movement. I then demonstrate how the rule of capture is in conflict with these acts and policies along with being in violation of both state and federal regulations in an attempt to establish a sound argument as to why we need to replace the rule of capture not only from an environmental standpoint, but from a legal standpoint as well. After considering groundwater legislation in other states, I offer a possible alternative to the rule of capture as part of the solution to the approaching shortage of Texas's fresh water supply. The implementation of new laws, regulations and conservation measures will help conserve water for future Texans, but we must also consider a change in our relationship to water along with the attitudes and ideas that resulted in a water shortage not only in Texas, but on a global scale if we truly want to solve our future water crisis.