Law Commons^™

Water Law Transitions, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

The history of water law throughout the United States is dynamic. Beginning with the inherited doctrine of English common law natural flow riparianism, the changes in law can be described as instrumentalist in the sense that "judges and legislatures made this branch of water law an instrument of pro-developmental policy." When the natural flow doctrine's requirement that the stream flow down to lower owners undiminished as to quantity and quality clashed with the needs of the extensive utilization of water powered mills in the nineteenth century, the courts pioneered an American doctrine of reasonable use riparianism that would sustain water-dependent …

Interbasin Transfer In A Riparian Jurisdiction, Robert Haskell Abrams

Journal Publications

This Article explores some issues pertaining to interbasin diversion of water in the East. The major issues surveyed are the physical and political aspects of interbasin transfers and the legal doctrines that govern them. Intrastate transfers are studied separately from interstate transfers to delineate unique problems that attend the latter. When possible, the Article will focus on Virginia as a state that has importing regions where interbasin transfer is a possibility.

Governmental Expansion Of Recreational Water Use Opportunities, Robert Haskell Abrams

Journal Publications

The growing popularity of public boating and related water-based recreation is increasingly taxing the capacity of available lakes and strearns. As a result, accelerating demands have been made for public use of otherwise unavailable, "private" bodies of water. Although existing 'economic' and governmental mechanisms to expand recreational opportunities may be adequate in theory, they have failed to respond to these new demands coherently." This Article proposes that government enjoys additional power to increase the public's opportunity for water-based recreation.

The purpose of this Article is to lay a comprehensive, doctrinal foundation for broad governmental action. Simultaneously, this Article counsels a …