A. Water right and Water law
Water right in water law refers to the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious. In other areas, especially arid areas where irrigation is practiced, such systems are often the source of conflict, both legal and physical. Some systems treat surface water and ground water in the same manner, while others use different principles for each. … Fundamental differences exist between the nature and source of water rights in different countries. Generally, water rights are based on the water law that applies in a particular country and, at their most basic, are classified as land-based or use-based rights.
Some countries allow their subdivisions to establish independent water laws. For example, each state and territory of the United States has its own set of water laws that establish water rights that may be land-based, use-based, or both.
In addition, some countries apply the principle of water solidarity, which has become increasingly important in the EU. This principle attempts to reconcile water rights through compromise solutions based on the public interest, and it has been written into legislation in France, for example.
Water law is the field of law dealing with the ownership, control, and use of water as a resource. It is most closely related to property law, but has also become influenced by environmental law. Because water is vital to living things and to a variety of economic activities, laws attempting to govern it have far-reaching effects. … Water has unique features that make it difficult to regulate using laws designed mainly for land.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_right und http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_law
B. The legal term for water rights is called „riparian rights“. Riparian rights are the legal rights of owners of land bordering on a river or other body of water. A „riparian owner“ is a person who owns land that runs into a river. Riparian rights are not ownership rights but rights of access to the water such as for drinking water, bathing, or irrigation.
http://definitions.uslegal.com/w/water/
C. Water rights are one of the interests that may attach to real estate ownership, and pertain to the rights to use adjacent bodies of water. Riparian rights are awarded to land owners whose property is located along a river, stream or lake. Typically, landowners have the right to use the water as long as such use does not harm upstream or downstream neighbors. In the event the water is a non-navigable waterway, the landowner generally owns the land beneath the water to the exact center of the waterway.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/water-rights.asp#axzz2CHNKmxWy
D. Abstract: Franc¸ois Molle, Defining water rights: by prescription or negotiation?
Establishing water rights is an appealing measure, which conveys a sense of orderliness and rationality that contrasts with a situation of assumed wastage, environmental degradation and conflicts. Transferable entitlements increase economic efficiency, while providing a compensation mechanism. The paper distinguishes between formal rights defined through a bureaucratic process and flexible allocation rules designed through a gradual and continuous process of negotiation. It investigates the prerequisites, advantages and drawbacks of these two kinds of water rights, and examines how they apply to the specific natural and historical conditions of Sri Lanka. It concludes by showing that policy models must be tailored to the local situation and be based on what is feasible rather than on what is considered desirable. …
http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Assessment/files/pdf/publications/Defining%20water%20rights.pdf