What is the federal-state divide in water law?

In the United States, water law is largely divided between states and the federal government. At the state level, water law is largely governed by common law principles based on the term "prior appropriation." This means that the rights to use water for various purposes is determined by who is first in line when it comes to claiming a certain body of water for a certain purpose. At the federal level, water regulation is largely determined by congressional statutes and the adjudication of water rights claims by the U.S. Supreme Court. In particular, the Clean Water Act is a federal law that regulates the quality of watercourses and wetlands in the United States. The law also requires states and local governments to establish permitting processes for the discharge of pollutants into bodies of water. In the state of Washington, water law is overseen by the Washington Department of Ecology, which works to protect water quality and ensure that all water resources are used in a sustainable way. Additionally, the state has statutes that regulate the management of rivers, streams, and lakes, such as the Shoreline Management Act. All in all, water law in the United States is largely divided between state and federal regulations - state regulations tend to focus on the management and use of water resources and federal regulations usually focus on the quality of bodies of water. In Washington, the Washington Department of Ecology oversees water law, both state and federal.

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