Property Implications of the Separation of Land and Water Rights

Abstract

During the 1980s and 1990s, water markets emerged as the preferred means of reallocating existing water between competing users. This has split the traditionally linked water and land assets into two separate and tradeable components. Reflecting this, most jurisdictions now have legislation formally separating property rights in water and land. Water is not any longer a fixture of land but a personal chattel; this transformation has profound implications for water as a collateral for lending, as a value component when valuing an irrigation property, and as a base for rates, taxes and duties as well as equity implications.