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Chapter 49. WISCONSIN CONTENTS Page 1. Development of Wisconsin Water Law_________________________ 795 2. State Organizational Structure for Water Administration and Control. 796 2.1 Administration of Water Rights_______________________ 796 2.2 Resolution of Water Use Conflicts_____________________ 797 2.3 Other Agencies Having Water Resource Responsibilities____ 797 3. Surface Waters___________________________________________ 800 3.1 Method of Acquiring Rights_________________________ 800 3.2 Nature and Limit of Rights__________________________ 801 3.3 Changes, Sales, and Transfers________________________ 804 3.4 Loss of Rights____________________________________ 804 3.5 Storage Waters, Artificial Lakes, and Ponds_____________ 804 3.6 Springs__________________________________________ 805 3.7 Diffused Surface Waters_____________________________ 805 4. Ground Water____________________________________________ 806 Publications Available------------------------------------------------------------ 807 DISCUSSION 1. Development of Wisconsin Water Law a. influence of bettscher Much of the published material on Wisconsin water law was either written or inspired by the late Jacob H. Beuscher, a member of the faculty of the University of Wisconsin law school. His interest in natural resources planning spanned more than 3 decades. As a trib- ute to his productive career, Miss Fran Thomas has recently pre- pared a monograph which outlines Beuscher's major views on nat- ural resources law and which also contains an invaluable collection of his publications, many of which were the fruit of collaboration with his colleagues and which often appeared in sources not imme- diately accessible to researchers.1 Also dedicated to Professor Beuscher (who was in fact a coauthor) is an impressive text on Wisconsin water law, published 3 years after his death in 1967 by Harold H. Ellis, Cletus D. Howard and J. Peter DeBraal.2 Beuscher's own casebook is a charming introduction to water law and is by no means purely local in scope.3 B. NAVIGABILITY A word should be said about navigability because Wisconsin surely is one of the leading States in advancing public use of lakes and streams. It certainly is not a novel observation that a single legal term may have a variety of meanings, depending upon the context 1F Ttoomas, Law in Action: Legal Frontiers for Natural Resources Planning-The Work of Professor Jacob H. Beuscher (Land Economics Monograph Series no. 4, pub- lished by the Land Economics Journal, Univ. of Wis., Madison, Wis., 1972). 2H. Ellis, J. Beuscher, C. Howard and J. P. DeBraal, Water-Use Law and Admin- istration in Wisconsin (1970). »J. Buescher, Water Rights (1967). 795 499-242-73------52 |
