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State and federal entities from previous decades claimed that navigable rivers, lakes and streams belonged to the public and administered them as such. In recent years state and federal governments began to term their administration of such navigable waterways as “ownership.”

IDWR agent Mike Tuthill explained that the state of Idaho now believes it “owns” all the water in the state -- including the wells and springs on private property.

Tuthill's admission provides insight into how the state phone number list justifies its perceived right to trespass on private property.

A woman who bought property in the area last July found out that her water rights are being challenged by the Nez Perce Tribe. Though the tribe had filed its claim against the water on her property before she bought it, the claim did not appear in the title search. Young explained that the county does not necessarily record such claims.

State support of such activity will have a negative impact on the sale of land in the region. If people refuse to buy land that is for sale because they cannot be assured that the water on it belongs to them, then property values will decline drastically. The counties will subsequently have diminished tax bases from which to fund the activities of government.