Opinion ID: 2047301
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Correlative Rights

Text: The correlative rights rule of water law originated in California and provides that the rights of all landowners over a common aquifer are coequal or correlative and that one cannot extract more than his or her share of the water even for use on his or her own land if other's rights are injured by the withdrawal. Prather v. Eisenmann, supra . The rule first arose in Katz v. Walkinshaw, 141 Cal. 116, 70 P. 663 (1902). Under the rule, the overlying landowners have no proprietary interest in the water under their ground and each owner over a common pool has a correlative right to make a beneficial use of the water on his or her land. Priority of use is irrelevant because in times of shortage, the common supply is apportioned among the landowners based on their reasonable needs. Richard S. Harnsberger et al., Groundwater: From Windmills to Comprehensive Public Management, 52 Neb. L.Rev. 179 (1973) (describing correlative rights rule). The principal difficulty with the correlative rights rule is how to allocate the water, and courts have approached the question in different ways. See id. For example, some courts interpret the correlative rights rule as essentially the same as the Restatement view described below. See Maddocks v. Giles, 728 A.2d 150 (Me.1999). Others view the rule as providing apportionment in times only when there is an insufficient supply for all users. See State v. Michels Pipeline Construction, Inc., 63 Wis.2d 278, 217 N.W.2d 339 (1974). Some courts, however, have adopted a reasonable use rule that combines the American rule and correlative rights rule. Under such rules, reasonableness is determined by both the use of the water and the rights of other landowners. Such cases still refer to correlative rights, but differ from the California doctrine. See id.