All surface water and ground water in Guam are declared to be a public asset and belong to all of the people of Guam held in trust by the government of Guam. Such water shall be utilized as follows:

(a) First priority shall be for use or resale by the Guam Waterworks Authority for household use, for bona fide farms, plant nurseries, aquaculture, ranches for other bona fide agricultural uses.

(b) Second priority shall be for any other use by the government of Guam for public recreation and for otherpublic purposes only and not for purposes enumerated in
Subsections (c) and (d) below.

(c) Third priority shall be for commercial and industrial
use.

(d) Fourth priority shall be for irrigation of golf courses,
for irrigation of lawns or ornamental gardens.

(e) Fifth priority shall be for any other purposes.

Any use of higher priority shall have preference over any use of lower priority regardless of which use was first in time.

As between water uses of equal priority, first in time shall have a temporary priority to the extent of such prior use for so long as the water is actually beneficially used on a regular or seasonal basis, but if not used such temporary water right shall be deemed abandoned pursuant to the common law.

The Authority shall certify that any approval of water service applications pursuant to the priorities above will not diminish or impair the quality of water service to customers with a higher priority. GWA approval shall be required for the use of all withdrawal of water from any water source in accordance with this Act.

The Guam Waterworks Authority shall within two hundred sixty (260) days of the enactment, adopt rules and regulations setting forth the application process and approval for water withdrawn from any water source, including, but not limited to, surface streams and rivers, wells and springs and from the aquifer by any person (individual, corporate or local or federal government entity, including the military) other than the Guam Waterworks Authority that seeks to withdraw water from any water source on Guam.

All water rights and rights to use water shall be determined according to the foregoing, and there shall be no riparian water rights in Guam. This Act establishes priorities only, and shall not establish any vested water rights in any person, other than in the government of Guam.

SOURCE: Added as § 14104.2 by P.L. 29-051:7 (Jan. 2, 2008). Renumbered and placed in this Article by Compiler to harmoniously fit this chapter.
2013 NOTE: Priorities for water use was first addressed in section 7 of P.L. 20-006 (April 25, 1989); however, this section was not codified into the GCA. P. L. 29-051:7 subsequently amended section 7 of P.L. 20-006 and added it as section 14104.2. The reference in P.L. 29-051:7 to subsection (b) of P.L. 20-006:7 appears to be a typographical error.

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