8/17/2019 Water Law Topic

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Water Law Topic: Pros and Cons of Using Desalination as a Source ofWater Filtration in California.

California is currently facing an indenite drought that is crucially

aecting our water sources. !any reco""endations ha#e $een "adeto deal with this issue% $ut a water shortage is a #ery real threat to usnow and will only worsen if nothing is done. &ne option would $e todraw water fro" the largest source of water on planet earth: theocean. &ne glaring issue with drawing water fro" the ocean is thea"ount of salt found in it. Through a process called desalination% wenow ha#e access to technology that can purify ocean water to thepoint where it can $e put to the sa"e use as our e#eryday drin'ingwater. (owe#er% this is not the only stu"$ling $loc'. )ssues "ay ariseas to true ownership of the water $eing put to use% depleting ofresources at an e*ponential rate +tragedy of the co""ons,% and

un'nown side eects to the ecosyste". While these issues "ay fra"edesalination in a "ur'y light% there are "any $enets to tapping in tothis natural resource. First o% we #astly increase our water sources. )naddition% we "ay also $e a$le to i"ple"ent a set of doctrines that willeecti#ely go#ern desalination and ocean water clai"s. The newdoctrines "ay also transfer o#er to the current laws that go#ern othersu$sets of water law% such as groundwater and captured water% andhopefully re"edy their inade-uacies. !y goal in writing this paper is totac'le all the issues that "ay arise through desalination along thecoast and to present a feasi$le plan on how to approach the rapidlegaliation of desalination.