1 .- The ground water in Roman Law
In Roman law the water was part of the common elements, ie the «common res omnium. This meant that water was capable of appropriation by individuals and especially by the owners of adjoining properties. However, on navigable rivers, establishing special protection to ensure navigation, consisting of particular use to prohibit making it hard for ships.
[:]Instituta In the book, book 11, title I, it says «and by natural law common to all these things: air, water and the sea and therefore the sea coast.»
2 .- The ground water in French law
In French law, following the tradition of Roman law establishes that public domain is only navigable rivers. The remaining ground water flows remain common things and directly usable by the owner of the surface, where groundwater and coastal, in the case of surface water.
Water and are therefore part of the common things, administrative intervention aims to enable the sharing of water for example, subjecting certain works approval or guarding the circulation of the water if necessary forcing deforestation.
3 .- The ground water in Spanish Law
In the Partidas of Alfonso XI «The Wise» captures the concept of Roman law on water, and also establishing the dominium principis on navigable rivers to protect as a means of communication. The first governing the waters are waters of the Laws of 1866 and 1879 which provide for a more interventionist regulation, due to new water demands, such as the development of railways and the beginning of conception as a scarce commodity. Hence, the Act of 1879 established the public domain status of all surface water, groundwater stored on the argument made by the games. The water publificación most important occurs in the Water Act 1985, which stipulates that the public are also groundwater, and justified because it is a scarce natural resource.
That law was amended Law 46/1999 for the reform of the Water Act, approved after the Royal Decree 1 / 2001 of 20 July, approving the revised text of the Water Act.