Reference
Virginia
Your source for information about water rights from coast to coast
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Reference Virginia Your source for information about water rights from coast to coast |
| Type of state | Riparian. |
| Water supply |
More than ample, especially in the eastern parts of the state where four broad rivers form major watersheds; but none of the state could be considered arid. |
| Water use |
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| Controlling law |
The 1989 Surface Water Management Act (VC 62.1-242 and on) gives the State Water Control Board the right to regulate use of water in the state, up to a point. It provides that permits for water use (available from the Board) are needed for water uses that are consumptive, amount to more than 300,000 gallons a month, existing withdrawals and water activities related to Clean Water Act requirements. Violators can be hit with fine of up to $1,000 per violation. In the case of groundwater, permits are required under similar circumstances. |
| Water rights |
Riparian rights are considered common law property rights, which can be purchased or inherited. Usage of the right is not required; but rights can be lost by formal "prescription." Usage is subject to the "reasonable use rule," which holds that a person objecting to the use of water by someone upstream has to show actual damage for action to be taken. Overlays of legislation going back to colonial days have complicated the rights to use of some Virginia waters. One notably tangled area grew out of a Revolutionary War-era decision to encourage canal development in the south-central part of the state. Many water rights (including rights on the James River upstream of Richmond, and on the Appomattox upstream of Petersburg) were specifically granted to canal companies, which later were taken over by the city of Richmond and the Appomattox Water Authority. The current riparian rights of landowners in those areas are unclear. |
| Interstate relations |
Virginia has been in dispute for several years with North Carolina – and some of its residents in conflict with each other – over a major water transfer plan. This concerns the growing freshwater needs of Virginia Beach, a large and fast-growing city, which has sought to divert 60 million gallons a day from the Roanoke River's Gaston Lake area. |
| Litigation |
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| Analysis |