Can Conservation Easements Preserve Agriculture in Kentucky Without Expressly Protecting Water Rights?

摘要

Water is essential for human life, ecosystems, and agriculture. Climate change is rapidly reducing the supply of this fundamental necessity in the United States, especially in the southeastern part of the nation. Throughout the region, droughts, caused by higher temperatures, have damaged the surface water supply for both human consumption and agricultural uses. The problem is so intensified that in recent years the increased strain on the availability of water has caused the southeastern states to enter into litigation regarding the different states' claims to the use of shared watercourses. Kentucky is not immune from the problems faced by neighboring states. In 2012, the Drought Management Association imposed a Water Shortage Watch on twenty-seven Kentucky counties. Reports show that droughts significantly reduced Kentucky's crop yields for harvest in 2012. As water becomes scarcer the trend continues to worsen.