I would like to do my project on granting water rights to terminal lakes in arid environments experiencing climate change driven drought. Terminal lakes worldwide are shrinking due to climate change and water demand (Hall et al., 2023). Specifically, I would like to focus on lakes in the western part of the United States in the Great Basin area.
Preserving water input to lakes in arid environments protects important ecosystems and prevents human health hazards. Drying lakes increase the air pollution due to sediment, decrease groundwater replenishment rates, and increase the salinity of the water (Hall et al., 2023). In the western United States, most terminal lakes receive their water supply from snow melt. As climate change increases the temperatures globally, the precipitation is expected to come as more rainfall and less snow (Hall et al., 2023).
Granting terminal lakes water rights prevents communities from diverting too much water away from the lakes, and allows lakes to replenish their water supplies (Daniels et al., 2025). Some rivers and lakes globally have already received water rights, or other protective legislation. This is one way to mitigate climate change impacts on fragile ecosystems and water supply.
References:
Daniels, B., Parker, E., & Steed, B., (2025). Great Salt Lake and the New Water Security. UC Davis Law and Review, 58(5), 2581-2630.
Hall, D. K., Kimball, J. S., Larson, R., DiGirolamo, N. E., Casey, K. A., & Hulley, G. (2023). Intensified warming and aridity accelerate terminal lake desiccation in the Great Basin of the Western United States. Earth and Space Science, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ea002630
Other articles/websites on the topic
Rivers as living beings: rights in law, but no rights to water? https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10383441.2020.1881304#abstract
Utah’s 2026 Great Salt Lake Laws: Water Rights, US Magnesium, and Federal Funds https://house.utleg.gov/utahs-effort-to-save-the-great-salt-lake-historic-water-law-major-acquisitions-and-a-federal-partnership/#:~:text=US%20Magnesium%2C%20a%20federal%20Superfund%20site%20on,on%20environmental%20reclamation%20of%20the%20Superfund%20site.