I had the opportunity to give a talk to the Lake Country Heritage and Cultural Society on Sunday the 15th of February.

As the talk was not to a regular economics crowd, I thought I would try to make it interesting.  To do so, I spent some time learning about the history of water rights.

A few interesting facts emerged from my investigation.  First, written laws about water go back to the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia.  While there are not too many references, a couple of things were clear.  One was that ownership of water rested with the king/emperor/community.  A second was that if you didn’t take proper care of the irrigation works you were responsible for and someone else suffered a loss as a result, you had to compensate them.  There was little beyond this, and that seems to be because many conflicts around water were settled locally, by ‘customary law’.

Another couple of interesting points show up with the Romans.  They had prior appropriation – first in right, first in time – figured out.  However, they went a bit further.  Prior appropriation was the rule when a new source was developed.  Once the source was fully subscribed, then it switched to a proportional system.

Finally, it also turns out that the BC water act was amended many times between the date when it was first enacted, in 1909, and when it was replaced by the new Water Sustainability Act.  Some of those changes were pretty substantial.  So, while there are some new and innovative ideas in the Water Sustainability Act, it isn’t a updating of an act that hadn’t changed since 1909.  It brought forward many of the changes that had worked their way into the old Water Act over the century since it was introduced..  And like that act, it is likely that the Water Sustainability Act will itself be amended from time to time as some of its provisions prove inadequate to the issues we encounter.

The presentation can be downloaded here: (Lakecountry_Present_20150215).

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