Exempt Wells: An Introduction

Abstract

When it comes to water use in the west, the general rule is “first in time, first in right,” otherwise known as the prior appropriations doctrine. However, another rule that also holds fast and true is that there are always exceptions to the rule. One of the exceptions to the prior appropriations doctrine in regards to ground water rights is that certain water uses are ruled “exempt” from many states’ water rights administration processes. These states “exempt” ground water use for domestic and stock watering purposes from their water rights application processes, considering the amount of water extracted for these uses to be a de minimus amount of water used in relation to the relatively larger amounts of water extracted for irrigated agriculture, industrial, and municipal uses. This exception to the rule has resulted in an ever increasing use of exempt domestic wells as water supplies for new residential developments in many suburban and exurban areas of the western United States, in essence utilizing exempt wells as a substitute for developing municipal water supplies. This expansion in the use of exempt domestic wells has raised concerns about the sustainability of ground water resources within several western basins, created conflict between traditional water rights holders and water users that rely on newly developed exempt domestic wells, raised concern about the reliability of the ground water supplies for the exempt domestic well users themselves, and the impact that exempt wells have on ground water quality during their development, use, and abandonment. A conference was held in May of 2011 in Walla Walla, WA, whose purpose was to develop a broader understanding of the issues associated with exempt wells and to provide a forum for professionals engaged in ground water development, water management, land planning, and water policy to discuss the impacts that exempt domestic wells have on water supplies and land development at the local and regional level. This conference was sponsored by a number of research centers and institutes that are members of the National Institutes of Water Resources, including the State of Washington Water Research Center at Washington State University, the Institute for Water and Watersheds at Oregon State University, the Montana Water Center at Montana State University, the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute at the University of Idaho, and the Colorado Water Institute at Colorado State University. The goal of this conference was to identify the critical issues associated with the management and impacts of exempt domestic wells, and to stimulate new ideas to solve the conflicts that have arisen between traditional water rights holders and water users that rely on exempt domestic wells. From this conference a number of papers were solicited from authors that cover a range of issues that have arisen due to the continuing expansion of the use of exempt wells across the Western US. This journal issue provides an overview of these issues that are now coming to the forefront in regards to exempt wells, with articles covering the legal standing of exempt wells, potential problems that have