A number of residences and a few small businesses line Route 68 east of Clarksdale. All homes and businesses must produce their own water from wells drilled into a shallow aquifer. An increase in bottled water and beverage production at Liston Bottling (2002) was followed by a lowering of water levels in nearby wells. Water wells at the Smith and Ralston residence now go dry with minimal pumping and decreased water levels have been noticed in all wells within 1000 feet of Liston Bottling’s production well. William Jaffray obtained a construction permit to build a home on his property but now fears that a home built there will not have an adequate water supply. A history of property development is given in the map below: (small Black Square is a house- if there is no black square then there is no house on the lot). The number, then the date is the order that the land was bought and houses built unless otherwise indicated.
Assignment
Disputes related to ground water ownership and use are common. Each state has established laws governing ground water use and production. Although these laws can be very complex and vary from one state to another, most of them are developed around three basic ideas:
1) The Absolute Ownership Doctrine gives property owners the right to everything on, below or above their properties. Under this doctrine property owners can produce all of the ground water that they want, in any way they want, wherever they want, and without any regard to the effect upon their neighbors.
2) The Riparian Rights Doctrine gives property owners the right to produce as much water as they want for any beneficial use that is carried out on the property from which the ground water was withdrawn. If this water production causes injury to an adjacent property owner the injured property owner bears all burden of proof.
3) The Prior Appropriation Doctrine is the principle of “first come, first served.” Under this doctrine the first person to develop a water resource in an area stakes first claim to the amount of water that is produced for beneficial purposes. Later users are entitled to any remaining resources in the order that they begin production.
In The Examples below, provide a one or two sentence statement that explains how a court case involving the listed parties would likely be settled in each of the listed state- who wins and why- use the map to help you understand the sequence that land was purchased and when the houses were built. Think about each state and the water laws
Smith and Ralston vs. Liston Bottling in Texas
Sundale Foods vs Liston Bottling in Utah
Jaffray vs. Liston Bottling in Ohio
Nancy Weller vs Liston Bottling in Arizona
