美国州法中的内径流水权及其优先权日问题

美国水资源的所有权属于各州 ,是一种公有的资源。法律上的水权 ,是水的使用权 ,主要包括私人所有的先占权水权、岸边权水权。在美国西部各州的水权系统中 ,有一种水权现在可以在私法框架中协调环境保护目标、各种取水权人的取水需求 ,这两者之间的冲突。这就是现在美国学术界广泛关注的内径流水权。内径流水权可以在私法领域保护水流的天然禀赋 ,并且排除政府以环境法为理由介入水事争端。随着环境主义在美国的破产1] ,美国西部开始了大规模的水权裁决活动 ,通过水法院或者行政机构确认私有水权的优先权日 ,从而确立水权的优先权序列。这样水权就会真正成为属于分散的个体的、排他性的财产权。优先权日在先的水权将在枯水季节排除他人的取水权或者其他种类的用水权。因此 ,确立内径流水权在这个优先权序列中的地位 ,是环境保护目标在私法体系中 ,而不是在效率低下的各种环境保护法中 ,长久地得到维护的关键。内径流水权优先权日有 (1)判例法认定的日期 ;(2 )法律规定的日期 ;(3)转化生成的日期。在先占原则框架中扩张这种财产权可以更大程度地排除环境法的适用范围。

INSTREAM FLOW RIGHT AND ISSUES OF ITS PRIORITY DATE IN STATE LAWS OF THE U.S.

In the U.S.,the water resourse, belonging to individual state, is a kind of public resource. Water right in all states' legislation is a kind of usufructuary right, or the right to use water, and mainly includes prior appropriation water right and riparian water right. In the west, instream flow water right could harmonize the pursue of protecting the water environment and the demand of private water right holders to take away water from the natural flows. Along with the demise of Environmentalism in American law, most states in the west have initiated a movement of water right adjudication,the goal of which is to ascertain an unambiguous sequence of water right priority dates, so it is important to give an appropriate status of instream flow water right in this sequence. Priority dates of instream flow water right include (1) the date in case law of individual state; (2) the date in statute of individual state; (3) the date of instream flow water right transformed from other kinds of water rights. In property law or private law system,dispersive exclusive and self-governed private rights could take the place of environment law or public law in a larger degree but gain much more social welfare in the long run. Instream flow water right could ensure an even more prospective future for protecting the water environment and could exclude the application of environment law in a much larger degree.