Water Rights for Fish

Juliet Eilperin describes the subtle but powerful change in perspective influencing water rights discussions in the U.S. west, where urban growth and demand for natural resources is coming into conflict with accepted practice. “Such battles have spread nationwide as groups from Florida to Nebraska squabble over farmers’ voracious water use, but nowhere are the stakes higher than in the fast-growing West. Rivers and streams there occupy just 5 percent of the land but sustain nearly half of the fish and wildlife species.” In the Washington Post.