| OCR Text |
Show 76 ALABAMA 2. State Organizational Structure for Water Administration and Control 2.1 Administration of Water Rights Alabama does not administer water use rights, and no statute has been enacted for that purpose, nor has any institutional or adminis- trative machinery been created. There are other types of regulation or supervision: Pollution and water quality are controlled through the water improvement commission; irrigation uses within irrigation districts are encouraged and supervised by the director of irrigation; and flood plains are regulated; all as discussed in section 2.3, infra. 2.2 Resolution of Water Use Conflicts Water use conflicts are resolved by the courts in private litigation, and reasonable use is the common measure for determining the re- spective rights of the parties. Unlike appropriation States of the West, Alabama has no State officer or administrative agency which is authorized to initiate general adjudications or water right deter- minations. For that reason, water rights are unquantified and are not of record, except to the extent that such rights are dependent upon ownership of riparian land, and land title records reveal the ownership status of real property. It might be noted, however, that the director of irrigation within the department of conservation and natural resources endeavors to resolve "conflicts" between irriga- tion districts and State policies and programs relating to irrigation use and water conservation.3 This, of course, is no more than an effort toward administrative harmony, and does not constitute an adjudica- tion of water rights or a resolution of water use conflicts. 2.3 Other Agencies Having Water Resource Responsibilities A. WATER QUALITY CONTROL The present act to control water pollution went into effect on No- vember 21, 1971.4 It creates a seven-member water improvement com- mission to carry out the State's water pollution control program. The State health officer and the director of the department of conserva- tion are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the commission. Five members are representatives of the "public at large" and are appointed by the Governor. Although the State department of health is the administrative and disbursing agent for the commission, the commission is authorized to appoint a chief administrative officer who has primary responsibility for carrying out the program. A technical advisory committee to the commission consists of the commissioner of agriculture and industries, the director of conserva- tion, the director of the Alabama development office, and the State geologist. The commission is authorized to promulgate water quality standards and to issue pollution permits. 3 Ala. Code Recompiled, title 8, sees. 9(1) et seq. (1972 Supp.). The Alabama statutes will for convenience be cited hereafter simply by title and section numbers. * Title 22, sees. 140(12a) through 14O(12g) (1972 Supp.). For a discussion of the 1971 act see, note, "Consciousness of Streams: The 1971 Alabama Water Pollution Control Act," 24 Ala. L. Rev. 373 (1972). |
