T.C. Richmond, Jenna Mandell-Rice and Rachael Lipinski examine the evolution of western water law as it recognizes and accommodates for the tensions between the goal of full beneficial use of water and the need to afford vested water right holders certainty as to their rights. 

This article was originally published by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation in the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Journal, Vol. 58, No. 1 (2021) and has been republished with permission.