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Unit 3: Doctrines and Principles
3.1 Correlative Rights Doctrine
The correlative rights doctrine comes from shared-reservoir natural resources law (its classic home: oil and gas in a common formation). Its content:
- A subsurface resource often underlies many owners’ land; the reservoir is one physical body.
- Each surface owner holds a correlative right to a fair share of the common resource and to reasonable, non-wasteful extraction.
- No owner may capture wastefully to the prejudice of the others; the state may regulate spacing, rates, and conservation to protect the correlative shares.
Its energy-law use today: groundwater and geothermal aquifers, gas fields, and — by analogy — the shared watercourse: upstream and downstream users hold correlative interests in one hydrological body, which is why unilateral over-extraction is a wrong, not just a policy dispute. For Nepal: the doctrine frames transboundary river basins (with LAW5707’s equitable-utilization framework) and any future shared-reservoir development (gas, geothermal).
| Feature | Meaning |
|---|---|
| One reservoir | Physical unity beneath divided titles |
| Fair share | Each right-holder’s correlative portion |
| Reasonable use | No waste, no injury to co-owners |
| State regulation | Conservation in the common interest |
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