Changes in Form and Function of Property Rights Institutions under Threatened Resource Scarcity

Abstract

Abstract Institutions governing the development and use of groundwater on the High Plains changed following the expanded irrigation demand of the 1960s and 1970s. We compared the regulatory systems embodied in the common law standard of reasonableness with the legislatively authorized administrative programs. While the substantive components of the common law standard remained intact in the legislative and administrative programs, the form and function of the institutions changed significantly. Rules replaced discretionary standards in the definition and protection of property rights in groundwater. Administrative organizations replaced judges and courtrooms as the primary forum for defining rights and settling disputes. These changes reflect conscious preferences for increased security at the price of reduced freedom in the exercise of property rights over groundwater.