Escatawpa River - An Interstate Approach to Water Resource Management

摘要

The purpose of this study was to analyze the legal position of the states of Mississippi and Alabama in a conflict concerning the use of water from an interstate stream in the City of Mobile's municipal water supply. Although the two states have legal systems that apply different rules to disputes over water rights the decisions of the United States Supreme Court do not indicate that either state's law would be the deciding factor in a dispute over the use of the stream in question. The rule applied by the Supreme Court is called the Doctrine of Equitable Apportionment and in essence holds that states have equal rights in an interstate stream. The report discusses in detail the factors previously used in achieving balancing of equities.