Editors' Summary

The states of the Western United States face numerous water management challenges, now and in the coming years. Legal hurdles to sustainable water management are posed by the doctrine of prior appropriation and its resulting policy constructs, including forfeiture and abandonment, time-intensive transfer and changeof-use procedures, and restrictions on using conserved water. However, strategies for addressing these issues have been implemented in varying forms across the West, each under unique circumstances and with different degrees of success. The policies and programs included here are not intended to be comprehensive, but rather a selection of illustrative examples that modify the prior appropriation system in a way that has led or could lead to more efficient, adaptive, and sustainable water use decisions.