Groundwater refers to the water below the Earth's surface that sinks into the soil and is deposited in gradually flowing and transformed underground pools known as aquifers, which is well-recognized as underground water within the saturation zone, just below the water table. Groundwater is one of the essential Earth's natural resources that make up 37 percent of the water that the accountable water departments in different countries supply to both households and public or businesses (Nelson & Quevauviller, 2016) . Groundwater is thus a public resource that constitutes a significant component of nature. It is the right of every individual to utilize underground water. However, the public authority mainly regulates its usage since the responsible department within a particular society has an idea of the amount of water needed to cater to the entire community. Therefore, groundwater can either be publicly or privately regulated. Groundwater that is publicly owned is mostly supplied through an appropriation system.
In contrast, a privately managed groundwater allows for unlimited production rights primarily regarding the ownership of the land or the liability rules (Nelson & Quevauviller, 2016) . Chances of inequalities are bound to arise where the landowner regulates groundwater because this may lead to water shortage in other community parts. Thus the society should impose regulations on the use of groundwater.
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Concerning who should have the most substantial claim for groundwater, I would argue that the landowner should give the exact amount of water to be extracted to the state or the local authorities. Also, the tribes are entitled to claim the groundwater to ensure that the property owner's amount of water does not cause destruction t the surrounding environment and populations. For instance, from the case study concerning "Batting over Bottled Water," the citizens of Michigan should claim groundwater and determine how the state uses it. The issue of justice portrayed in the case can be described through the Rawlsian theory of justice, which states that individuals are entitled to equal rights and economic equalities beneficial to society. From the given case, the Nestle Company has the Sanctuary Spring contracted but are the owners, and still, the citizens have the right to take any action since they are regal owners of the property. From the Utilitarian perspective, the primary aim is to maximize the benefits over the losses. Thus instead of pumping water for fewer activities like swimming and boating, the water can be directed to the regions facing water shortage. Lastly, from the Libertarian perspective, the Nestle company action cannot be considered unethical because they have a right to pump any amount of water.
References
Case 3.2 Battling Over Bottled Water.
Nelson, R., & Quevauviller, P. (2016). Groundwater law. In Integrated groundwater management (pp. 173-196). Springer, Cham.
