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Show Chapter 2 CLASSIFICATION, DEFINITION, AND DESCRIPTION OF AVAILABLE WATER SUPPLIES A water supply, as the term is used in this study of water rights laws, is a natural body of water, either on or under the surface of the ground, available for diversion of the water therefrom and for its application to beneficial use. The water may be in motion, such as in the channel of a watercourse or in a stratum of rock or soil; or may be substantially at rest, such as in a lake or pond in a closed ground water reservoir.1 A common water supply, as the term is used herein, is a combination of water supplies, on or under the surface of the ground, or both, which are so interconne ted that diversions from one component water supply result in reducing the quantities of water which otherwise would be available in other component water supplies. Supplies of water required for useful purposes, therefore, are available on or below the surface of the earth. The science of weather modification, chiefly "rainmaking," though now in its infancy, has progressed far enough to indicate a "great economic potential," accompanied by new legal doctrines of rights and liabilities.2 At present, however, waters in the atmosphere, though highly im- portant physically, generally do not constitute an "available water supply" to which separate rights of use attach. For the purpose of discussing laws of water rights, there is adopted the following classification of available water supplies occurring in natural geo- logical formations or on their surface: (1) Watercourses. This group comprises, without subclassification, waters flowing in well-defined channels, and waters in lakes and ponds whether or not connected with stream systems. (2) Diffused surface water. (3) Other waters at the surface: (a) Salvaged and developed waters. (b) Waste, seepage, drainage, and return waters. (c) Spring water. (4) Ground waters: 1 The definitions of terms in this chapter are based largely on National Reclamation Association, "Desirable Principles of State Water Legislation," pp. 1-2 (1946), which was prepared by a committee of the National Reclamation Association, Wells A. Hutchins, chairman. 2 Stark, Donald D., "Weather Modification:Water-Three Cents per Acre-Foot?" 45 Cal. Law Rev. 698 (1957). See also Davis, R. J.,'The Legal Implications of Atmospheric Water Resources Development and Management," (Ariz. Univ., Coll. of Law, 1968). (21) |