Conjunctive use
The joint management of surface water and groundwater as one connected system rather than two separate supplies.
Hydrologically, pumping a well near a stream depletes the stream. Legally, states spent decades pretending otherwise. Conjunctive-use administration corrects that by treating tributary groundwater withdrawals as depletions to the surface system, subject to the same priority queue.
Where conjunctive administration applies, a groundwater right can be curtailed to protect a senior surface right — which means a well is not the loophole it is sometimes assumed to be.
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