My thesis was broadly based upon the federal government's current and future role in water management and conservation in the West. More directly, it examined the federal government's right to water for federal land and how the "federal reserve water right" can and will affect the future of water development, and conservation. Throughout the twentieth century, various supreme court rulings have granted authority to the federal government to essentially bypass state water law and declare the amount of water necessary to fulfill the "primary purpose" of federal reservations (i.e. National Parks, Monuments, Forests, BLM land, etc.). The paper makes the assertion that this "federal reserve water right" is the most effective means of preserving water in the West and the aquatic and riparian resources that it sustains.

However, given the current institutional and ideological foundation of the today's market, it seems that natural resource conservation and approaches to sustainable resource management do not come without sacrifice and compromise with the private, extraction/development sector. Through a look at the water management in Colorado, this paper traces the problems that arise for the private sector with natural resource conservation. This thesis outlines the current trends in natural resource scarcity, the importance of maintaining our natural ecological systems, and an obligation to sustainably manage our natural resources in perpetuity. I saw a case study of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is an excellent vehicle to illustrate the need for a paradigm shift in natural resource management.

The Federal Reserve Water Right:

One of the principle tenets of western water law is the "first come, first served" clause. This states that the first to claim right to water (and can show diligence in using the full right) has priority to all other "junior" water users in the basin. The full right to water is allocated before the next water right holder receives a drop. This chronology of right to water is prioritized by the filing date of the right; Joe Bob's water right of 100 cubic feet per second filed on January 1^st, 1922 is allocated in full before ACME Mining and Drilling's water right is satisfied, filed on January 2^nd, 1922.

The significance of the federal reserve water right is that it gives authority to the federal government to basically wedge itself within this chronology and declare water for federal reservations. Granted, the federal government can only file the water right as early as the date the reservation was set aside, but many of these rights have never been quantified. In the West, the federal government owns and manages a huge percentage of land and many water rights to this land have not been quantified. This creates an environment of great uncertainty for both state and private users. Both are looking to access and develop the ever decreasing supply of water and within river basins where a federal department has yet to officially quantify their right to water, there could be simply no water after the quantification has taken place.

Over the past 25 years, the western United States has grown at a rate of 32% while the rest of the nation has grown at around 19%. From 1990 to 1995, ten of the nation’s fifty fastest growing counties were in Colorado alone. Because of the West’s rapid growth, it has seen more job creation, new businesses, and development of new homes and office parks than any other region. The western economy has become greatly diversified, and economists have shown that migration to the West now causes job growth rather than the opposite. Furthermore, the west has the highest fertility rates in the country, and is taking on many retirees and immigrants. Its growth is pervasive in both rural and urban areas, and reflects not only national economic growth but also a regional dynamic that portends to much more growth in the future. The nature of this economic boom is important to understand because it represents a shift from commodity-based production to a growing service sector. This is essential to keep in mind within the context of recreation and increased use on public lands, and water availability. Around the globe, a pervasive trend of human population growth and natural resource scarcity makes challenge for conservation all the more difficult… and all the more essential.

This paper traces through the relevant legal, economic, and ecological theory, and background of the Upper Gunnison River Basin to provide the necessary backdrop for a case study of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (BCGNP). During the time provided for this thesis, the Black Canyon was in the process of filing a quantified water right to finalize their current conditional water right. To trace the quantification process and examine how the final adjudicated right will influence the whole Upper Gunnison River Basin was important for many reasons. First, it gave tremendous insight to the process that many other federal departments will be undertaking within the next twenty years as they begin to quantify their own water rights. The Upper Gunnison River basin, and its heated local, regional, and state issues surrounding water allocation and the federal water right to be quantified for the BCGNP closely mimics that of water basins throughout the West. The successes, obstacles, and impact throughout the basin of the final, quantified federal reserve water right for Black Canyon can give us a glimpse into the "water wars" around the West we will encounter in the near future.

LINK TO THESIS CONCLUSIONS