THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENTS IN ALLOCATING WATER

In contemporary world, there are strong trends towards of public ownership for as surface water as groundwater. Therefore, the right to use water, i.e. water allocation, is in the competency of national governments. It is the national governments' competency to control and regulate water use. National governments quite often delegate the authority for water allocation to the state, provincial, local levels of government. As cumulative use of water resources reaches maximum, and competition for water begins with high possibility of conflict among water users, governments should set up rules and regulations for allocating water, for example, issuing water entitlements.