Water rights by basin
Water follows hydrology, not borders. These are the systems that set what your right can actually deliver, who governs it, and how scarce it has become, with every figure sourced.
Ogallala (High Plains) Aquifer
The Ogallala, formally the High Plains Aquifer, is the groundwater system that made the High Plains an agricultural region. It underlies 111.8 million acres across eight states and supports roughly 13 million irrigated acres through about 170,000 wells.
Rio Grande Basin
The Rio Grande is the most legally supervised river in the West: an interstate compact, two international treaties, a federal reclamation project, a Texas watermaster, and, until May 2026, a thirteen-year Supreme Court case. For a water owner that density of governance is not a nuisance, it is the market structure.
Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River supplies seven states and Mexico across more than 246,000 square miles, and it is the most heavily governed river on earth. It is also structurally short: the compacts promise more water than the river has produced in over a century of record.
Edwards Aquifer
The Edwards Aquifer is the karst limestone aquifer that supplies San Antonio and much of south-central Texas, and it is the most tightly regulated groundwater market in the state. Unlike the [[rule-of-capture|rule-of-capture]] regime that governs most Texas groundwater, the Edwards is managed by a dedicated authority under a hard cap, which is exactly what makes rights here tradable and valued.
Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA)
The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer irrigates southern Idaho and feeds the springs that supply the state’s aquaculture industry. It is also the most actively administered groundwater system in the West: the state runs a formal delivery call, issues curtailment orders by priority date, and models every mitigation obligation.
Central Valley & San Joaquin (California)
The Central Valley is the deepest and most transparent water market in the United States. It is the only place in the West with a weekly published spot price, an active futures contract, and district-level rate sheets you can read online.
More basins are in research. Every page ships only when its figures trace to a public primary source, see our data and methodology standards.
Frequently asked questions
Why do water rights differ by basin rather than just by state?
Because the physical system and its governing instruments cross state lines. A single aquifer like the Ogallala spans eight states with eight different legal regimes, and a river like the Rio Grande is governed by an interstate compact and two international treaties on top of state law. The basin determines the water; the state determines the paperwork.
Does basin shortage make my water worth more?
Generally yes. In fully appropriated or declining basins, new appropriations are unavailable, so buyers who need water must acquire or lease existing rights. That is why scarcity tends to raise the value of established rights even as it reduces the physical supply they deliver.
How do I know which basin my water is in?
Your water right document names the source: a stream, a river system, or an aquifer. If you are unsure, the state agency record identifies the source, and a WaterLeases records check will confirm it along with your priority date and quantity.
Find out what your water is worth before anyone else tells you.
Tell us what you hold. We bracket its value against sourced comparables and real demand in your basin, then point you at the strongest path: lease, bank, or sell. Confidential, and yours to act on however you like.
- A defensible range, anchored to sourced comparables
- The demand map for your basin: who would pay and why
- Reply within one business day, confidential throughout