This class provides an overview of the legal framework and principles governing the ownership, use, and distribution of water. It covers topics that are national in scope, but it also emphasizes laws and issues unique to California. The class covers: surface water and ground water rights, riparian and appropriative water rights, California and federal water agencies, the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and the California’s State Water Project; interstate water compacts and international water allocation treaties, Native American water rights, instream flow requirements, the public trust doctrine, and California’s water supply-land use legislation (SB 221 and SB 610).