What is the doctrine that allows a landowner to pump water from under their property?

The doctrine that allows a landowner to pump water from under their property is known as the Rule of Capture. Under this legal principle, landowners have the right to extract and capture as much groundwater as they can from their land, without any liability to neighboring landowners, as long as the extraction does not involve wasteful practices.

The Rule of Capture is rooted in the idea that groundwater is a resource that belongs to the landowner rather than being subject to collective control. This means that a landowner can drill a well and pump water regardless of how much water is taken from the groundwater basin, provided no harm is caused to adjacent landowners' water supply through negligence or malice. This doctrine can encourage landowners to efficiently manage their water resources, although it may lead to issues of over-extraction and depletion of groundwater supplies.

The other options represent different doctrines concerning water rights: littoral rights pertain to land adjoining lakes and ocean shores, riparian rights relate to water bodies adjacent to one’s property and typically involve surface water, while surface water rights refer to the rights to use water that flows over or is present on the land's surface, which is distinct from groundwater rights granted by the Rule of Capture.