&gt; In theory, states could step in and reallocate water according to modern economic priorities.<p>As the old saying goes, in the West, water flows uphill towards money.<p>When the US received the New Mexico territory, they agreed to accept the old land grant system. There are still ongoing lawsuits over what that means. Quoting from Nichol&#x27;s &quot;The Milagro Beanfield War&quot;, “The war never ended in 1848”.<p>In theory, states are supposed to follow these agreements.<p>&gt; personal property is sacrosanct and farmers wield a lot of influence<p>Farmers aren&#x27;t the only water rights holders in the West.<p>What is the &quot;modern economic priority&quot; regarding existing Navajo water rights?<p>&gt; He supports the idea of setting aside what policy makers call “lifeline supplies” to guarantee households some minimal amount of water. ... Anyone who wants to fill a swimming pool, water a golf course, or use billions of gallons of Colorado River water to grow cotton in the Sonoran Desert, he says, should have to pay for that privilege.<p>What about the right to farm the land your family has had for 300 years, and where the water rights have long been established?<p>&gt; Deane told me he’d abandoned an effort to buy a distressed New Mexico property in 2014 after hearing about a local gas-station attendant who—opposed to the idea of investors buying up water—refused to fill the cars of workers who were drilling wells on the property.<p>Yes. New Mexicans have a long history of outsiders coming in to buy up water rights.