Residents of a tiny former gold mining town of La Grange, who have fought for three years to protect their water rights held since the goldrush, are bracing for a hike that could exceed a hundredfold. The fading town of 67 households may be forced to pay water treatment costs for the first time under a judge's recent ruling and lose their water rights altogether. The details can be read in the LA Times. This move poses a threat especially to conservationists. The concept of rights in pepetuity are central to many of the more successful conservation efforts, where individuals and groups band together and purchase land to protect significant eco-systems--but if 'in perpetuity' no longer means 'for ever' those conservation efforts become temporary at best.