长期以来，美国大多数州的市政供水都受到水法的特别保护。这些保护措施中的关键条款是，允许市政当局为预期的未来需求拨出多余的水，而无需在过渡期间使用多余的水。一些州，例如科罗拉多州，甚至允许市政当局转移他们不需要的水，并将其出售给其他人，直到他们需要。除了允许对多余的水进行拨款外，一些州还允许在不需要实际拨款的情况下为未来的需要保留水资源。 随着对稀缺水源的竞争加剧，以及利益集团和新的政府法规增加了对长期规划的需求，城市供水的这些基本要素受到了威胁。越来越多的人试图让市政供应商遵守许多与非市政供应商相同的标准。本文讨论了西方许多州市政供应商面临的五大新规划和工程问题:（过度拨款审查、保护、废水再利用、安全饮用水法案修正案、高峰需求）。 虽然本文主要关注各州拨款所面临的问题，但作者认为其他州和加拿大省份也面临许多相同的问题。

Municipal water supplies in most prior appropriations states of the United States have long been accorded special protection under water law. Key among these protections have been provisions allowing municipalities to appropriate excess water for anticipated future needs without requiring that the unneeded water be used in the interim. Some states, Colorado for example, even allow municipalities to divert water they do not need and sell it to others until they need it. In addition to allowing appropriations of excess water, some states allow for reservations of water for future needs without actual appropriation being required. These fundamentals of municipal water supply are threatened as competition for scarce water supplies increases and as interest groups and new government regulations increase demands for long-range planning. Increasingly, attempts are being made to hold municipal suppliers to many of the same standards as non-municipal suppliers. This paper discusses the five major new planning and engineering problems: (scrutiny of excess appropriations, conservation, wastewater reuse, Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments, peak demand) facing municipal suppliers in many western states. While the paper focuses primarily on the issues facing appropriations states, the author believes that other states and Canadian provinces face many of the same issues.