You can’t trademark natural resources, but ownership of them is increasingly becoming an issue as those resources become scarce. In fact, the question of ownership over water rights has become a knock-down fight. Water shortages have been an issue in the western states in the U.S. for well over 100 years and officials could foresee even back then that water was limited.
In the early 1920s, California’s agriculture industry was booming, and as the demand for the Golden State’s homegrown products increased, growers had to expand their operations, which, in turn, meant an increased demand for the state’s most valuable resource – water.
