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Public Trust Protection For Stream Flows And Lake Levels, Ralph W. Johnson

Articles

The public trust doctrine and the appropriative water rights system are headed on a collision course in the West. Appropriators claim vested property rights to extract water for irrigation, mining, manufacturing and other uses. They further assert that under the appropriation doctrine such extractions can continue in perpetuity regardless of the consequences to navigation, fishery and other public values. The public, however, increasingly insists on more protection for environmental and ecological values, aesthetic quality and recreational opportunities, which on lakes and streams usually means leaving waters in place. As a result, the courts are being asked to apply legal doctrines …