Primer
The doctrine layer. What a water right actually is, riparian versus prior appropriation, the 4 groundwater rules, federal and tribal reserved rights, and the public trust doctrine.
In this module
Foundations: what a water right actually is
Almost every mistake buyers make traces back to one bad assumption, that a water right is a thing you own like a car. It's a permission slip with conditions, and the conditions are where the money and...
Surface water: riparian vs prior appropriation
These 2 doctrines answer the same question ("who gets the water when there isn't enough?") with opposite logic. Knowing which one you're standing in tells you what your land is worth in a dry year.
Groundwater: the 4 doctrines and the regulatory hole
Groundwater is where the arbitrage is, where the depletion is, and where your Wisconsin well risk is. Surface water law is mature and contested. Groundwater law in most states is 40 years behind the...
Federal and tribal reserved rights
These are often the most senior rights on a river, they can sit unquantified for a century, and then get settled all at once. If you're buying western water, unquantified tribal claims are the largest...
The public trust doctrine
This is the doctrine that says some water can never be fully privatized. Wisconsin's version is one of the strongest in the country and it sits in the state constitution. It both protects you and...
Glossary
Keep this open on a second screen for the first few reads. Terms are grouped by where you'll hit them.