Water laws are regulated individually by sovereign states. Globally, there are no universal rules that water related service providers need to fulfill. This goes for both the water-and-sewerage service providers and bottled water producers.
However, for countries within the European Union, water-related directives are important for water resource management and environmental and water quality standards. Key directives include the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (1992)  (requiring most towns and cities to treat their wastewater to specified standards), and the Water Framework Directive (2000), which requires water resource plans based on river basins, including public participation in water use decisions based on Aarhus Convention principles. See Watertime - the international context, Section 2.
Water law in the United StatesEdit
In the water law of the United States there are complex legal systems for allocating water rights that vary by region. Generally the Eastern states follow the riparian doctrine which permits anyone whose land has frontage on a body of water to use water from it. The water law of the Western states generally follow the appropriation doctrine which gives a water right to whoever first puts water to beneficial use. Colorado water law is generally looked to as authority by other Western states which follow the appropriation doctrine. Surface water: streams, lakes, and springs, is treated differently from ground water, underground water extracted by pumping from wells.
International water lawEdit
The Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1997.
- George Vranesh, Colorado Water Law. Revised Edition, University Press of Colorado (2000), ISBN 087081543, 2003 supplement (March, 2004), ISBN 0870817558
- Hildering, A. (2004), International Law, Sustainable Development and Water Management, Eburon Academic Publishers, Delft, The Netherlands, 2004 
- International Law Association Water Resources Committee (2004), Final Report presented at the Association's 2004 Conference in Berlin 
- UNEP (2002), Vital Water Graphics - An Overview of the State of the World's Fresh and Marine Waters. UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya. 
- International Water Law Project
- International Water Law Research Institute, Dundee University, UK
- Centre for Comparative Water Policies and Laws, University of South Australia
- International Waters Wikiverse