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Show 16 SURFACE WATERS With respect to ground water, it is not uncommon to find special statutory procedures and controls. For example, some States, in addi- tion to requiring proper control valves on wells, authorize the State administrative agency to plug or otherwise control artesian wells which are wasting water. Further, in carrying out a distribution program for ground water, the administrator is frequently given the authority to control pumping by junior appropriators in order to assure that prior rights in water levels and artesian pressures are not impaired. However, most States-either by statute or by court decision-allow for reasonable reduction in water levels by junior appropriators. (3) RECORDS Effective water administration is dependent on centralized water right records which are complete and accurate. Such records facili- tate processing applications to appropriate because they reveal exist- ing demands on the stream system, and, when compared with stream- flow records, indicate whether there is any unappropriated water. They also aid the statutory adjudication process by identifying exist- ing users and uses. And they are of critical importance as the basis for water distribution. Water right records are also important in water planning. Poten- tial water development projects require an evaluation of the avail- able water supply which would justify such projects, and records which are inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise unreliable, make it extremely difficult to evaluate the feasibility of further water development. While most Western States have reasonably comprehensive water right records, a number of problems remain. Many records are in- complete and inaccurate. In every State there are existing rights which have never been placed of record. Many of these water rights and uses could be recorded by State legislative reform requiring in- formational filings, but reserved water rights of the United States and Indian tribes can be quantified and placed of record only through some affirmative action by the Federal Government. A number of proposals have been made for quantifying and recording all water rights which at present are not of record, and it is expected that con- tinued improvements will be made in the record systems of the various States. o. The Eastern Experience: Modification of Riparianism (1) LACK OF EARLY STATUTORY CONTROLS Historically, there was little need for Eastern States to enact comprehensive water use regulation, and it is not surprising that experimentation with such regulation has been a rather recent ad- venture. There was abundant rainfall, and water supply was plenti- ful. The right to use water from surface watercourses was limited to those who owned riparian land, and so water use was viewed as a private matter between riparians, and it was thought that there was no public interest to require or justify public regulation. When |