The Water Resources' Committee at district level can adjudicate water use disputes on the basis of the priority order and the beneficial use or misuse supported by necessary enquiries and investigation. The local people have been practising customary water rights since time immemorial. Customary rights' practices in the Cha Khola Watershed area are based on the principle of prior appropriation which means that older established rights have precedence over new rights. In the case of Cha Khola, a dispute arose in 1992 between upstream and downstream farmers even beyond the above limit. The dispute was finally resolved after the upstream farmers agreed to replace the permanent structure with a temporary diversion, assuring the existing lower system adequate water during dry months.
Investment normally entitles a person to customary water rights.