The Colorado Doctrine

Download or read book The Colorado Doctrine written by David Schorr and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-11-27 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIV Making extensive use of archival and other primary sources, David Schorr demonstrates that the development of the “appropriation doctrine,” a system of private rights in water, was part of a radical attack on monopoly and corporate power in the arid West. Schorr describes how Colorado miners, irrigators, lawmakers, and judges forged a system of private property in water based on a desire to spread property and its benefits as widely as possible among independent citizens. He demonstrates that ownership was not dictated by concerns for economic efficiency, but by a regard for social justice. /div