- This article discusses water usage laws in common law. For a discussion of the right to water as a human right under international law, see right to water.
Water right in
water law refers to the
right of a user to use
water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of
groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious. In other areas, especially
arid areas where
irrigation is practiced, such systems are often the source of conflict, both legal and physical. Some systems treat
surface water and
ground water in the same manner, while others use different principles for each.