Water Rights and Optimal Reservoir Management

Abstract

In many areas, notably the arid portion of the western United States, economic development and increased use of both surface and ground water supplies has been accompanied by proliferation of water storage facilities. As these reservoirs are filling, rivers become more completely appropriated and ground water supplies approach depletion more rapidly. While the analysis and management of ground water and surface water supplies should be integrated, we consider surface water independently, thus following the bifurcation in the treatment of ground and surface water under existing water law. In Burness and Quirk (1977), we considered the efficiency aspects of the appropriative water rights doctrine in the static analogy of an uncontrolled river. Here we follow in the spirit of Gessford and Karlin (1965) and analyze the optimal operation of a water storage facility in the presence of downstream users. In addition, we consider alterations in diversion capacity by water users in the presence of such a facility. By explicitly considering alternative water rights doctrines we are able to comment on the efficiency and stability of prevalent patterns of ownership and operation.