After the Water Conservancy Law was promulgated and implemented in 1943, my country established the "Water Right Registration System." Except for the exemption of water right registration for households or small amounts of water as stipulated in Article 42 of the Water Conservancy Law, all other water use situations must be registered. Prior to this, the right to water was based on the provisions of Article 781 of the Civil Law: "The owners of water sources, wells, ditches, and other water flow areas are free to use their water. However, those with special habits are not limited to this." Before the implementation of the "water right registration system", anyone who owns land ownership can freely use the water resources on the land without registration.

However, we all know that water resources are precious and limited natural resources, which have a huge impact on the national economy and people's livelihood. If they are not properly distributed and used, problems will inevitably arise. In the case of abundant water resources, there is no problem with the provisions of free water in the civil law, but the actual situation is-water resources are limited but water demand is increasing year by year. The water shortage has become obvious. If the landowner is allowed to freely take water, Will cause constant disputes over water. In addition, Article 143, Item 2 of the Chinese Constitution stipulates: "The natural power that is economically available to the public belongs to the state and is not affected by the people's acquisition of land ownership." Therefore, the Water Conservancy Law is based on the provisions of the Constitution. Article 2 clearly reveals: "Water is a natural resource and belongs to the state. It is not affected by the people's acquisition of land ownership."

In other words, even if the people have a specific piece of land, they do not of course have the right to take and use water on that land. If the people want to use water, according to the provisions of Article 15 and Article 27 of the Water Conservancy Law of our country, the people must apply for water right registration (ie water right registration) in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Water Conservancy Law. On the one hand, the country can smoothly handle water conservancy administration and supervise the establishment of water conservancy projects. On the other hand, it also clarifies the rights and obligations of water users and reduces disputes. More fundamentally, my country uses the water rights registration system to rationally allocate the use of water resources, so as to avoid the occurrence of "preemptive wins" or "the weak eating" monopoly or water grabs.

Reference material: Water Rights Practical Handbook of Water Resources Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs (June 1997).