Property rights of water wells; the arena of transformation from private law to public law

Water as a source of life is one of the most important underlying factors of development in any country. Prior to the 1940s, water was considered unclaimed property according to Imam jurisprudence and, consequently, civil law and any acquisition and exploitation of them was carried out in accordance with the rules and regulations of private law. Over time and also the occurrence of many problems in this area, various damages were gradually inflicted on the country, including due to the introduction of deep well drilling technology and uncontrolled abstraction of groundwater by wells. Accordingly, the role of the government became more prominent in exercising sovereignty over the exploitation and protection of the country’s water resources and water exploitation became subject to the rules of public law as well as the rights of water wells “changed”. So that now any exploitation from groundwater by drilling wells must be done with the permission of the government and within the prescribed limits. Thus, It can be seen that due to the changing water conditions of the country and the crisis in the water sector, the waters became national. And the private rights of individuals were restricted in the exploitation of water wells and public laws take on a major role in the administration of this part of the legal system.