以河岸主义为基础制定用水法律的州越来越意识到古代普通法的局限性。这些州应该考虑在半干旱西部使用的优先拨款原则的一些优点。河岸主义的发展与工业革命同步。随着越来越多的行业发现对水的需求越来越大，这一理论也随之发展。在干旱的西部，这一原则没有多大用处，而侵占原则是为这一地区确立的。东部和西部的用水需求非常不同，但该原则可适用于以下地区的东部供水: 控制开始用水以保护公共利益，包括保护活河流和其他环境价值；鼓励和保护符合这些利益的私人投资；将新用途限制在自然界中可用且不用于现有用途的水源；以及使用的灵活性，以便随着需求和条件的变化，转移到新的更好的用途。包括15篇参考文献。

States whose water use laws are based on the riparian doctrine are increasingly aware of the limitations of the ancient common law. These states should consider some of the advantages of the prior appropriation doctrine used in the semiarid West. The development of the riparian doctrine coincided with the Industrial Revolution. As more and more industries found greater need for water the doctrine evolved. In the arid west the doctrine was not of very much use and the appropriation doctrine was established for this area. The water needs of the East and West are very different, but the doctrine can be applied to Eastern water supplies in the following areas: control of the initiation of water uses to protect public interests, including the preservation of living rivers and other environmental values; encouragement and protection of private investments consistent with those interests; limitation of new uses to those supplies of water available in nature and not committed to existing uses; and flexibility of use so that transfers can be made to new and better uses as demands and conditions change. Includes 15 references.