How does riparian law relate to prior appropriation law?

Riparian law and prior appropriation law are two different types of water laws that apply in Virginia. Riparian law is based on the English common law tradition that states that landowners with a certain amount of land alongside a body of water—a river, stream, lake or other body of water—have the right to access the water for their own use, so long as it does not infringe on the rights of other landowners. Prior appropriation law, on the other hand, follows the western tradition of a “first in time, first in right” philosophy, which allocates water rights based on the date the water was first used. Under Virginia’s water law, the two systems are merged into a hybrid system, called “comparative hardness,” in which the two systems are used to determine the allocation of water rights. Under this system, when two people with the same water right claim the same water, the person who has used it the longest will be given preference. The riparian law is used to determine who has a water right, while the prior appropriation law is used to determine who has a superior claim to the water when two people have a claim to the same water. In summary, riparian law and prior appropriation law are two different types of water laws that merge in Virginia to create the hybrid “comparative hardness” system. Under this system, riparian law is used to determine who has the right to the water, while prior appropriation law is used to allocate the water based on the date it was first used.

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How does riparian law relate to prior appropriation law?

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